Corona
by Arre
Summary: The Twilight saga continues after Breaking Dawn with the unofficial fifth book, Corona. After all that has happened to Bella, she thought that the life-threatening conflicts were over; but Bella and the rest of the Cullens face the biggest threat yet.
1. BOOK ONE Bella: Preface

**Corona**

**Book One: Bella**

When sorrows come, they come not single spies,

But in battalions.

_Hamlet: _Claudius, Act IV, scene v

**Preface**

I had once compared Edward and I to Romeo and Juliet. Edward and I had been from two different worlds, and every element on the planet seemed to be bent on keeping us apart.

But we were together; this Romeo and Juliet story had not ended in tragedy. Of course there had been hardships; though, with each new trial, Edward and I seemed to grow closer and stronger. I realized now that each heart-wrenching obstacle deepened my love for Edward, because of how we tackled things together.

I reviewed my surroundings. I wondered now if we had finally come to an obstacle that we couldn't overcome. Could a Romeo and a Juliet never escape a tragic end?

I looked into Aro's eyes as he stared back at me. There was no way out and no way to protect my family. I had the feeling that the Volturri had been waiting for this day a long time; and, in a way, I had been too.

Aro's eyes glittered with satisfaction. I would fight with my family for as long as I could, as I knew they would. I promised myself that I would see Edward and the rest on the other side.


	2. Chapter 1: Discovery

**Chapter One: Discovery**

The light shone through the curtains—as much light as there was on an overcast day in Washington. I remember missing the bright sunlight when I first moved to Forks from Phoenix, Arizona; Phoenix, with an average rainfall of nine inches per year. Over time, I ended up loving the overcast weather because I loved Edward. Now it's a necessity for me as well.

I got up out of bed in one graceful, fluid movement and went to stand in front of the window. There had been much to get used to with my new life as a vampire over the past year.

The Cullens, my family, call themselves vegetarians because they feed on animals instead of humans like most other vampires do. I could hunt better now: like Edward, I could hunt without one hair out of place and my clothes intact. I often wondered if Edward missed the distraction of disheveled and torn clothes afterward, or if he took more pleasure in seeing me progress as a hunter. For me, it was better so Renesmee could come along with us on our hunting excursions, which of course meant Jacob would come along also.

For the past few weeks, however, Jacob has had to spend more time away from Nessie, much to his displeasure. It seems Sam has been keeping the Pack busy, and Jacob has been working with him. On what, I'm not sure, but then again, I always seem to forget to ask when he _is_ around.

It's been close to a year since the confrontation with the Volturri: the elite ruling class of the vampire world. Renesmee now resembles a 10 year old. She talks aloud more now; mostly because we need to seem as human as possible around other humans. Still, her favorite way to communicate is to touch her soft hands to your cheek and "show" you her thoughts in your own mind.

She doesn't go to school, however. Her rapid physical growth would be noticed too quickly. Instead she is home schooled. She's expressed a desire to be either a doctor, like Carlisle, or a police officer, like Charlie.

Oh, Charlie. I suppose he could dismiss a lot of things, but with Renesmee's growth rate, even with his strict "need to know" rule, he has asked more questions. I hope I've been able to keep enough about the vampire world a secret from him to keep the Volturri happy.

Rene is in blissful innocence as usual. Unlike Charlie, she doesn't live in Forks, so these things don't usually come up; things like the change of the color of my eyes, the fact that I look like a supermodel now, and that I cook, but don't eat, when I'm at Charlie's house. I suppose she will have to know more sometime. I worry about how she'll handle it, but ever since she had the unexpectedly pleasant reaction to my marriage to Edward, I hold hope that she's more open-minded and accepting then I gave her credit for before.

When I called her to tell her I was engaged to be married only a few weeks after graduation from high school, I thought she would have suggested I see a shrink, but she didn't. I thought I would have suggested the same myself, but I was won over by Edward's powers of persuasion. I had promised myself, a long time ago, that I wouldn't be the girl who got married right out of high school. As it turned out, I was the girl who not only got married at age 18, but got pregnant with my first child afterward as well. Looking back on it now, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Edward was someone I couldn't live without. The same was true for Renesmee, or Nessie as other affectionately called her. Despite myself, the nickname had grown on me.

Rene and Phil, her husband, are traveling right now. Normally, they live in Florida. Rene moved to Florida with Phil after I left Arizona for Forks. I guess Phil is on some tour his agent wanted him to go on. Rene told me he's ad campaigning for a product that needed a celebrity athlete sponsor. I didn't even realize he was that famous.

"Bella," Edward's whisper in my ear from behind, and his arms around my waist in the same instant, broke through my thoughts. I sighed softly.

"What shall we do today?" I asked. The night had been as they usually are, eventful.

"It's still early. Renesmee isn't even awake yet." He purred in my ear. I thought of Renesmee, asleep in her room. It had been newly redecorated recently; the crib had been replaced by a bed. She was the biological daughter of Edward and I, when I was still human—a conception no one I knew ever thought possible, though now I know there are others like her.

Her bed was a full size with four posts, from which were hung sheer curtains in her favorite color. There was also a desk off to the side and in front of the window. A table lamp made by Jacob sat on top; he had carved animal shapes into the base. Renesmee loved it; she cared about Jacob. I could hear her steady, heavy breathing from where I stood. She was still asleep.

I turned around to face Edward. He kept his hands on my waist as I placed my hands around his. I buried my face in his chest. I remembered the way his jacket had smelt when I had put it on riding home in his car during one of the first day I knew him. It seemed like forever ago. I hadn't wanted to take it off and give it back to him when we had pulled up in front of Charlie's house. I didn't want to remove my face from his chest now. I was concentrating hard.

"Really?" Edward asked. "You didn't?" He was answering my thoughts. It had worked. It was a little easier now, having practiced, to let down the shield that protected my mind, and let Edward hear my thoughts. It was my favorite way to have conversations with him now. I always had to concentrate hard, but it made the conversations that much more intense.

Edward lifted me off my feet and into his arms. In a few swift movements we were then laying on the bed again, side by side, facing each other.

"Let's try again," he said.

I knew what he meant. He wanted to hear me again. I entwined my fingers with his and closed my eyes. I focused intently on the shield surrounding my mind. I found, before, that thinking of happy memories helped to take down the layer of protection that, by default, covered my mind from Edward's view. I focused on being calm and relaxed. As soon as I was anxious or swept up in any other sudden, strong emotion, the shield would again lock my mind away.

As soon as I was sufficiently relaxed, I let my mind wander again to the smell of his jacket that I'd remembered, to when he told me he would never leave again, to when he proposed, to Esme's island and feathers. I thought of the nights we had spent together this past year, reading, playing the piano (or rather Edward playing and me listening), and endless hours like this. This was something I liked; the time we spent exploring each other's minds—he, of course, speaking aloud.

I opened my eyes. He smiled. He could hear me. Carefully, slowly, so as not to break my focus, he lifted my hand to his lips. He pressed them to my hand in different places.

I thought about when I first woke up a new vampire. He stopped kissing my hand and tensed. Oops; I had let my thoughts slip briefly to the pain I was in as I had made the change from human to vampire.

I looked into his now open eyes; they were concerned. My shield had replaced itself. "You didn't tell me," he said quietly.

"I didn't want you to be upset," I answered, quickly. I smiled lightly. He didn't return it. I pulled him close and kissed him as hard as I could. He was unwilling at first, but then returned it eagerly. Eventually, I pulled myself away from him to look in his eyes again. "Besides," I said, "sometimes you have to pass through fire to get the really good things in life." I was surprised at the truth of my own words. I guess after exchanging thoughts with Edward about Renesmee, my new family, and us all those nights, I'd realized I'd go through fire again to have this, all of this, and all of Edward; his body, soul, and mind.

Edward was kissing me. I returned it and we disappeared beneath the covers.


	3. Chapter 2: My Friend

**Chapter Two: My Friend**

The wind ripped across my face and my hair whipped out behind me. I glanced quickly to my right side—Edward was pacing me. His Ducati bike could clearly overtake me if he wanted. Being a vampire now, I found myself in love with speed as much as he was. Thankfully, with my new and enhanced skills, Edward had abandoned the idea of having me wear a helmet.

I think I kept the old red bike Jacob had fixed up for me more because of nostalgia than anything else. Today, Edward and I had decided to ride our motorcycles again. Edward had bought his own bike, eager to be a part of my hobby. At the time, he had acknowledged that, though he would have liked to spend time with me, I might have wanted to continue practicing the hobby with Jacob instead—he being the one I had started it with. I had assured Edward I enjoyed riding with him too.

I revved the engine and pulled out in front as if to challenge him. He took the hint and answered with a roar of his engine. He gained the lead and disappeared, effectively leaving me "in his dust."

I caught up with him, as he was idling at the side of the road. I stopped alongside him. We had been driving down one of the many 2-lane roads running through the area with a canopy of trees overhead. Edward and I had been riding our motorcycles together a lot recently. Part of the reason was that Jacob hadn't been around. The better part of the reason, however, was that I found that I enjoyed riding with Edward. Some of my favorite times were those spent with the Cullens and Renesmee, my family; but Edward and I were bonded happily, comfortably, and never to be separated. My most favorite times were those spent with him; entertaining passion and growing in our affection.

I looked over at him. He was already looking at me. He smiled as I met his eyes. "Let's go for a run," he said.

We left our motorcycles where they stood and took off running into the trees. I thought I knew where we were headed. Most of my memories from when I was human were fuzzy now, dimmed by the fire that had changed me. The more I dwelt on those human memories, however, the clearer and more cemented in my mind they became. There were new things to find joy in, of course, but there were also so many things from before that I never wanted to forget. I had forever to dwell on memories and to make new ones. I had forever with Edward, which was the most important thing to me.

In a few minutes, we stopped in the clearing. This was the field where I had seen how the skin of vampires sparkles like diamonds in the sunlight. It was nothing like what is told in old vampire stories of sunlight being harmful; it was beautiful.

Edward walked in front of me and lied, on his side, on the grass, propped up on his elbow. I followed and did the same, facing him.

"Is it possible to love someone this intensely for forever?" I asked.

"I think so," he answered and smiled. "I think the more time you spend with someone, the strong the love becomes."

"I feel bad," I said.

"About what?" he asked.

"That we have forever when most people don't."

"Maybe they do," he answered. "Maybe they are still together after they die, somewhere."

"Like we would be."

"I hope so."

Edward had never really, truly believed that vampires had any sort of afterlife granted to them. He wasn't entirely sure if vampires weren't just damned eternally for what they were. For what _we_ were.

We rode into the long drive leading up to the Cullen house. It was slowly getting dark. It must be the evening already. I had lost track of the time, but that wasn't unusual. Edward and I had spent time in the field and then gone to hunt.

We parked the motorcycles in the vast garage and walked inside. Alice and Renesmee were playing on the couch. Emmett and Rosalie were planted in front of the TV. The evening news was on. I didn't really want Nessie hearing about the horrible stories that had made the headlines that day. The station they were watching reported on Seattle news, which didn't do anything to ease that worry.

I was just about to ask Emmett to change the channel when what the reporter was saying caught my attention. Apparently, what Jocelyn Martinez was saying had caught the attention of everyone else that was in the living room, because it suddenly fell silent. I watched the reporter. Her bobbed hair and heavy makeup would have distracted me any other time.

"Just this afternoon," she was saying, "near where we are now, attorney Jason Scott and his secretary were found brutally murdered in his office. We've been told that they were discovered by one of Mr. Scott's clients who had an appointment at the time."

Jason Scott, or J. Jenks as he was also know as, dead. Why? Done by someone unhappy with J. Jenks no doubt. I couldn't imagine this being the result of anything Jason Scott did. And yet, he was murdered in his downtown office where his "legitimate" clients had gone. Someone who knew Scott and Jenks were the same person like the Cullens and I did?

I had gone to Jenks last year, not really knowing I had been looking for him at the time. Alice had left me cryptic clues that led me to him. As it turned out, Jason Scott had a profitable side business as J. Jenks; someone who would forge legal documents for a fee.

When we found out that the Volturri were coming to, more than likely, destroy us, I had asked Jenks to make passports for Jacob and Nessie under false names that would take them far away. I had also met Max, someone who worked for Jenks. He had said that Jenks usually dealt with diamond smugglers and drug dealers with his side business. Perhaps one of them got to him.

I focused again on what the reporter was saying. "Police are blaming the murders on the gang MS13—a particularly vicious gang on the rise in the Seattle area."

A gang? Falls under the "drug dealers" category I suppose. Jocelyn continued. "Police are only telling us that evidence found at the scene appears to link this crime to other recent violent crimes believed to have been committed by MS13 members."

"Who are the MS13?" I asked anyone in the room.

"Dangerous gang," Jasper answered. "Supposedly, the worst of the members are killers from El Salvador."

"Gosh," I said. "Wouldn't want to mess with them."

"Correction," Jasper said. "Humans wouldn't want to mess with them. They, however, would be no threat to us."

That was true. Being a vampire had its advantages. First, we were immortal; no disease known in the world would have any effect on us. There was also the super strength; something I had witnessed when Edward saved me from be flattened by a van on one of my first days at school here. We were also virtually indestructible, with skin like cold, hard marble. The only way to destroy a vampire, something else I had witnessed, was to tear him into pieces and keep those pieces apart from each other long enough to burn them. Lastly, some vampires had other abilities. I had my shield. Edward was able to hear the thoughts of others. Alice could see the future. No, MS13 would be no threat to the Cullens. Hopefully they would stay in the city, for their own sake.

"It's too bad," Jasper was saying.

"What's too bad?" Carlisle asked him.

"I had a rapport established with him."

"Is there anyone else you know that will make fake documents for an unnaturally white family, that doesn't appear to age, and not ask questions?" I asked.

"No. But I'm sure we'll find someone," Jasper answered. He looked bored now. I had kind of liked Jason Scott. Maybe it was because he had indirectly helped me to keep Nessie safe.

The sports news was on now; no doubt Emmett's favorite. We spent a few more hours at the Cullen house, and then Edward, Renesmee and I returned to our home to put Nessie to bed.

With her snuggly in bed and already fast asleep, I walked into our room. Edward was already lying on the bed, staring absently at the ceiling, until I walked in, then he shifted his focus to me. I walked into the huge closet, which had been fully stocked by Alice when we first moved in. I had added a few fashions of my own that were a little more "me." There was, however, something she had put in here that I liked. I pulled the pink silk off of the hanger and put it on. It was a long nightgown with straps and lacey details on the bodice. A little more Victoria's Secret, and a little less Fredrick's of Hollywood.

I climbed into the bed, and lied on my stomach, with my head rested on Edward's chest. I was thinking this wasn't going to be one of the nights when we played the piano. I let him hear my thoughts. He must have been thinking the same, because as quickly as I had put on the nightgown, it was off.


	4. Chapter 3: Accident

**Chapter Three: Accident**

Jasper had seemed a bit moody lately. I suppose it could be due to some old wounds being reopened in the past year with everything that has happened. Most days he has spent off by himself—probably hunting.

Today, Alice had convinced him to come shopping with us in Port Angeles. I was not particularly thrilled with shopping—nor about spending time with Jasper, who seemed a bit irritated with me—but when Alice makes plans, no one can help but to go along with them.

Edward, Jasper, Alice and I climbed into Carlisle's Mercedes for the trip—Edward took the driver's seat, Jasper sat in the passenger seat, and Alice and I were in the back.

I watched the scenery fly by as we passed. Edward drove fast, but I could still make out every detail. Soon, we were in Port Angeles, and Edward came to a stop at a red light. A few cars passed us perpendicularly with their green light. I could see a few people walking along the row of shops around the corner.

All of the sudden, I heard tires squealing and a sickening crunch—metal on metal. I wasn't wearing a seatbelt and neither were the others. We were flung forward. I crashed into the back of Jasper's seat as I heard him hit the dashboard. It cracked at his impact. Of course, we wouldn't be hurt, but that was more than I could say for the car. It took me a millisecond to realize what had happened—we had been rear ended.

We got out of the car. I turned around and saw the driver of the other car get out at the same time. The other car was a 2-door, white BMW 328i. The front end of it was smashed enough to look pretty scary.

"Are you okay?" Edward asked the other driver.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she answered. She didn't appear to be hurt; thanks to the magic of modern car safety, no doubt; though she was visibly shaken.

I saw that the few people that I had seen before had come around the corner to see what had happened. Most of them were on their cell phones; whether they were talking to their friends about the excitement, or talking to the police, I wasn't sure.

"I'm so sorry," the young woman was saying as she walked closer to us. She chuckled—probably from shock. "You know," she continued, "I live in New York City and I've never been in an accident. Can you believe it?" She was rambling now. "I guess feeling safe enough to text while driving, just because I was driving through a small city like Port Angeles, wasn't the right way to think." She laughed a little again.

"You're from New York?" Jasper asked in an uninterested tone; he had come around the car to stand next to Edward. It looked like the young woman was going to faint; it was good that Jasper kept her talking.

"I've lived there all my life," she said. "I'm actually here on business. I'm a fashion consultant for Macy's."

"And what better place to study fashion trends than here," Edward said and laughed.

She laughed too—a little too loudly. She walked closer to Edward. "I was actually up in Seattle for business, but I'm really into the outdoors also. I heard that there were a lot of good places to hike and mountain bike around here, so I was on my way to the Forks area. I decided to spend a few days of vacation down here after I was done in Seattle."

"I'm sorry Miss," Edward said, "I didn't catch your name."

"Oh," she said, wearing her nerves on her sleeves. "I'm Ariel." She placed her hands on Edward's upper arms like they were old friends—or worse. Nerves or no nerves, I didn't like the way she was gazing up into his eyes and smiling. "I'm so sorry," she said; though I didn't get the feeling she was apologizing for the way she had her hands on my husband. "Here, I should give you my insurance information. Do you have a pen?"

"Should we call you a cab?" Jasper asked, his tone a little short-tempered.

"Oh no," she answered, "Really, I'm fine. Honestly I should probably call the rental car company. This is a rental. Can you believe it?" She chuckled as she tapped Jasper's shoulder with one of her hands. "I knew I should have bought their insurance. You know, the kind you buy from the rental place so if something happens, you don't have to file a claim with your own insurance company." Was this line of conversation her idea of flirting? "My premium is going to be so high next year after this," she continued.

"Are you sure you'll be fine?" Edward asked. What I knew to be flirting, he seemed to just attribute to nerves.

"Yes, really I'm fine. Here, just take my info down really quick."

"It's really okay," Edward said in a comforting tone. "We're not going to file a claim with your insurance. That's what you get when you get into an accident in a small town." He smiled, flashing his bright, white teeth. "By the way," Edward continued. "I'm Edward Cullen. This is Bella, my wife, Jasper, and Alice," he said as he pointed to each of us. Ariel didn't seem deterred at all by the way that Edward had introduced me—her hands were still in the same spot as they had been almost the entire time.

She shifted her gaze back to Edward. "Okay," she continued, "I promise you I'll be fine, but you need to promise me something."

"What's that?" Edward asked.

"You'll all go straight home and take care of yourselves. You can probably still drive your car."

It was true—there seemed to be more damage to her car than to ours. The back of the Mercedes was badly dented, but it would be drivable for now. I was saved from a shopping trip—at least I was happy about that. "We promise," Edward said.

We waited until the tow truck came for Ariel and her car. Then, we got back into the Mercedes and drove home. The ride was a little slower than usual—the car was having a hard time with top speeds.

"She couldn't figure out if we were really sincere back there," Edward said, letting us in on what she had been thinking. "Can't blame her, being from a place like New York."

"What else was she thinking, Edward?" I asked sarcastically.

He chuckled a little. Alice chuckled along with him, and Jasper just stared out the window. "Nothing that would change the way I feel about you," Edward said to me. I wasn't amused.

We went up the drive toward the Cullen house and parked in the garage. The other Cullens were waiting there—Edward had called them to tell them what had happened. Their eyes took in the damaged back end of the car. I doubted Carlisle would have it repaired; he would probably just get a whole new car.


	5. Chapter 4: Visit

**Chapter Four: Visit**

Edward drove us to Charlie's house. We had had this date set up for weeks. Charlie was eager to have Renesmee over. He would enjoy spending time with her while Edward and I did other things.

Renesmee sat in the back of the Volvo, quietly looking out the window. I sat up front with Edward.

We pulled into Charlie's driveway. His police cruiser was parked there also. Out on the road, by the curb and in front of the house, was parked a black Ford Crown Victoria with dark tinted windows.

I wondered who Charlie could be entertaining now. Maybe I should have called to confirm our plans first. I glanced over at Edward as he put the car into park. My eyes were questioning. His eyes were worried.

"What is it?" I asked. I assumed his reaction was to the thoughts he was hearing from Charlie and whoever was inside with him.

Edward kept his eyes fixed on the house in front of us. "Charlie is talking to a FBI agent inside," he said.

"A FBI agent?" I asked incredulously. "But what could they possibly want from him?"

"They want to talk to us. We should go inside. They heard us pull up." I glanced back at Renesmee, hesitating. "She'll be alright, bring her in with us," he told me.

We walked slowly, humanly up to the front door so as not to startle those inside, in case they were watching. Edward rang the bell, though I don't think it was necessary because the door opened quickly after that. He must have been standing right behind it.

Charlie stood in the doorway. "Good Bella, you're here," he said with not the slightest bit of pleasure on his face.

"Hi Charlie," I said as cheerfully and nonchalantly as possible. If I looked concerned or asked something like "What's going on?" it could lead to some awkward questioning. Edward of course, always the good actor, looked as if his team has just won the Super Bowl.

"Come inside kids," Charlie said, all of the sudden with a smile on his face. It was as if his first greeting was a stray thought we weren't supposed to see. I wasn't fooled. He wasn't as good an actor as Edward. I could still see the concern behind his eyes.

We walked into the entryway. Charlie got down on one knee to talk to Renesmee. "Hey Nessie, why don't you go play upstairs in Bella's room?" My furniture still occupied my room in Charlie's house, along with books and the computer. The books and the computer were what Charlie meant by "play."

Once she was gone, Charlie led us into the living room. An official-looking man in a white shirt and slacks stood up from where he had been sitting on the couch.

Charlie turned back to us, his expression anxious again, yet business-like to match that of the other man. "Bella, Edward," he said, "this is Agent Ramsey." He gestured to the man, even though it was obvious whom he meant, he being the only other one in the room.

Agent Ramsey stepped forward and shook our hands firmly. "Edward and Bella Cullen, I'm pleased to meet you." His voice was firm and sure. "I'm Special Agent Jack Ramsey of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Please, have a seat." He gestured to the couch. I sat at one end, Edward on the arm beside me. Agent Ramsey sat on the other end of the couch, and Charlie in his armchair, facing us.

I looked to Charlie and then back to Agent Ramsey. He seemed to appraise my look.

"What is this about Agent Ramsey?" Edward asked for the benefit of those in the room who couldn't read minds. His voice was calm.

The agent reached into his suit jacket, which was draped over the arm of the couch. He took out a small notebook and a pen. He clicked open the pen and flipped open the notebook.

"Mr. Cullen," he began, "This is regarding an investigation that I am heading. I'd like to get your help if I may."

"How would we be able to help?" I asked.

"Mrs. Cullen," he answered. "Charlie here seems to think that the both of you can offer me something, but he's not exactly able to explain to me how. However, I _do _think you two might know something of interest to me."

Oh gosh. I didn't like where this was going. What was all of this about? I wished I could see Edward's face to see if he was as nervous as I was, he being able to hear Agent Ramsey's thoughts.

"It's about some possible gang activity in this area and in La Push," Ramsey continued.

Gang activity in La Push? Was that what had Jacob so busy lately? And why would Charlie think we would know anything about it?

Agent Ramsey let his comment sink in and then continued further. "The crimes we believe are linked to this activity range from graffiti to breaking and entering. Although," now he paused, "it seems to have escalated to murder."

"Murder?" I asked unbelieving. "And how does that relate to gangs here?"

"The graffiti we've found, and evidence at the murder scenes in La Push seem to link the crimes to a gang know as MS13 from Seattle."

MS13 again. They were the ones who police were saying had murdered Jason Scott. I thought for a minute. "So you think MS13 members are coming down from Seattle to La Push."

"Not exactly," he answered. I felt Edward's hand tense on my shoulder. Oh gosh. What was coming? I couldn't imagine what. Had Agent Ramsey linked MS13 to vampires somehow? Why? Is that why Ramsey thought we knew something? How much did he know?

Ramsey continued. "These gangs have a very strong pull for young teens. A lot of the kids down here spend time in Seattle also. They may have seen what others were doing up there, and they copy what they think is 'cool.'"

"What are you saying?" I asked.

"We think some kids from La Push have become interested enough in MS13 to commit these crimes."

"Why the kids in La Push?" I asked and almost shouted. I would have leapt to my feet if it were not for Edward holding me down with the hand on my shoulder, an effort that went unnoticed by the other two in the room.

"As part of the investigation, we've interviewed locals of La Push and they have told us that there is a group of kids that hangs out together and has been known to miss a lot of school recently. When I spoke with these kids, they were unable to have their activities cooberated by anyone other than the other kids in the group and their families. Their families are worried, understandably; they're trying to protect them."

It's the Pack, I wanted to tell him. Jacob, Sam, and the others are trying to protect those people. They're not the ones responsible for the crimes.

"You may have heard about the murder of Jason Scott," Agent Ramsey said. No one said anything, so he continued. "Do you know anything about that?"

"Not anything other than what we've heard on the news." I answered.

"Mrs. Cullen," Agent Ramsey almost cut off my words, "I happen to know that you had done some business with Jason Scott, or J. Jenks as he was also known as." His tone was accusing.

"What…?" I started.

"I also have been told that you and a…" he glanced at his notebook, "Jacob Black spend a lot of time together. In case you didn't already know, Mrs. Cullen, he is one of the people we are investigating in these crimes."

"Now wait just a damn minute!" Charlie almost popped out of his chair. "I didn't mean…"

"Maybe you didn't Chief, but I _am_ allowed to draw my own conclusions."

"I assure you Agent Ramsey," Edward said evenly, "we're not involved in the way you're thinking." Of course, Edward really did know what he was thinking.

"Then help me," Agent Ramsey said a little sarcastically, "Why _did_ Chief Swan believe you would know something?"

"Perhaps you could help us first, Agent Ramsey," Edward said. "Why is the FBI involved in this?"

"A few years back, a task force with the FBI was set up to deal with MS13 gang crimes. I've been on this task force for a while, and now I head it. I know the MS13 better than anyone does. I've tracked their activities for as long as I can remember. I know these crimes down here are linked to them somehow."

Well, he didn't link MS13 to vampires exactly, but he did link it to the Pack—to Jacob—and to me. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Agent Ramsey was following a false lead while someone out there was killing innocent people and going unnoticed by authorities.

"Honestly, Agent Ramsey, if we believed we knew anything that would help, we would tell you," Edward was saying. "If we think of anything, we will definitely let you know."

Ramsey seemed to gage the truthfulness in Edward's eyes. Edward was good with facial expressions, but Ramsey seemed only half convinced.

"I would appreciate that very much, Mr. Cullen," Agent Ramsey said. He stood up from the couch and picked up his jacket. Charlie, Edward and I answered by standing up as well. "Here is my card." He handed it to Edward. "Please call me with anything you think of." Edward nodded. I couldn't move. Edward squeezed shoulder again. I shifted my weight in response. I guess I had been standing too still. How could I think about putting on the human act at a time like this?

Charlie walked Agent Ramsey to the door, mumbled a "Goodbye" and an "I'll talk to you later."

Edward and I remained in the living room. I turned my head around to look at him. He replied with a look that said, "Fix your face Bella, Charlie's coming back."

I didn't care about the expression on my face right now. Charlie walked back into the room. "So some kids paint graffiti in Forks and you call in the Feds?" I asked him with a glare.

Charlie returned the glare. "Bella," he said, "Agent Ramsey didn't tell you everything. There have been murders in Forks as well. He was working in La Push already. I had to let him know about the murders down here. It's my job."

Murders in Forks too? Agent Ramsey had only mentioned the "murder scenes" in La Push.

"And why is Agent Ramsey suspicious of us?" I asked rhetorically. "Because you told him we would know something. And what, pray tell, would we know?" I almost shouted.

Charlie held his hands up in front of him. "Look Bella, I don't know what's been happening with you lately. And with Ramsey suspicious of Jacob and his friends, I thought you might know something about it. I thought you might have an explanation." Charlie shifted, uncomfortable and upset. "I was fine being clued in on only a small part of whatever your secret is, but now people are dying under my watch and I need answers."

I could see the questions and concern in his eyes. "What did Jacob say?" I asked more gently.

"I've tried several times to get a hold of him. He doesn't pick up the phone. I haven't seen Billy or been able to contact him either."

"Jacob isn't talking to you?" I asked.

"Do you think Jake and his friends are really involved?" Charlie asked me instead.

"No," I answered quickly.

Charlie nodded. "Yeah, I'd like to think the best of him too. But… it's just that Agent Ramsey has been doing this a long time. He knows what he's doing."

"I don't think Jake or his other friends are responsible," I repeated.

"You know," Charlie continued as if he didn't hear me, "If this is part of some… ritual because of… whatever it is you do, you know that's not okay."

"Jacob isn't doing this," I said firmly.

"And neither are the Cullens," Edward added.

"That's what I believe in my heart too," Charlie answered the both of us. "You just have to understand…" he trailed off.

"We understand the position you're in," Edward finished. "Please know that we will provide you and Agent Ramsey with any information we can."

Charlie nodded in acknowledgment. He looked down and then back up at me. "You know, you could still leave Nessie with me for awhile if you want."

"We should probably go home," I said.

"Okay," Charlie said. "Sorry to ruin your afternoon kids. I honestly didn't think Ramsey was going to turn this around on you like that." He paused. "You know Bells… I think more has become 'need to know.'"

This was not working out the way I had planned. He was worried about the citizens counting on him in Forks, and I was making it harder on him. I wanted to tell him everything. I was going to tell him everything, now.

Edward squeezed my hand, hard. "We'll talk to you later Charlie," he interrupted me, as if to stop me.

We said goodbye and got with Renesmee into the Volvo. The black car was gone, naturally. We pulled onto the road that would take us home.

I kept my eyes facing the front. "Did you hear me?" I asked, quietly.

"Your thoughts?" Edward asked. He also had his eyes on the road; I could see that with my peripheral vision. "No," he said, "But I could tell what you were going to do."

"Why don't you want me to tell him?" I asked.

"The Volturri for one," he said.

"Damn the Volturri."

"Second, I think we should talk to Alice first," he continued. Alice. Of course—maybe she would be able to see something that would help us figure out what was going on and who was doing it. I shifted my gaze to the side window.

"Mommy?" Renesmee's voice came from the back seat.

"Yes sweetie," I answered.

"Why are you upset?" she asked.

"Just some things have me worried," I answered, trying to sound reassuring.

Renesmee was quiet for a minute. "You know what, Mommy?" she asked.

"What honey?"

"Me, you and Daddy are together, aren't we?"

"Yes baby," I answered.

"Then everything will be alright," she said with conviction.

I closed my eyes and smiled a little. What I wouldn't give for child-like innocence and faith. Was I better off knowing the "grown up" things I did, or was she better off knowing the "simple" things she did?

Should I hold to her conviction that everything would be fine, or should I give into the worry that gripped me? The worry that had me feeling this wasn't going to end well.


	6. Chapter 5: Crumbling

**Chapter Five: Crumbling**

We pulled up in front of the Cullen house and parked the car in the garage. Edward looked at me with a concerned sideways glance. Renesmee, Edward and I went inside. I heard voices coming from the dining room.

We walked in to find the Cullens—all except Jasper. Rosalie stepped forward. "Nessie," she said, "Let's you and I go watch TV." Rosalie started to lead Renesmee by the hand and out of the room. Nessie stopped her.

She turned to me with her hand raised. I bent down so she could touch her hand to my cheek. I saw what she was thinking. "Yes," I told her, "I think it does have something to do with what I was worried about earlier."

She touched her hand to my face again—she wanted to know what was happening. I hesitated, "Renesmee I…" She then touched her hand to my cheek once more and I saw her fear and worry. Renesmee seemed to feel more worry without knowing what was happening.

"I promise," I said to her, "I promise that I'll tell you after I know more." Nessie nodded and walked out the door towards the living room with Rosalie.

I turned back to face the rest of the Cullens. "Alice saw you two with the FBI agent," Carlisle told Edward and I.

"Too late to warn you though," Alice added. "Sorry."

"That's okay Alice," Edward said; then he turned back to Carlisle. "Agent Ramsey thought Bella and I knew more than we said because we had worked with Scott."

"How did Ramsey find that out?" I asked Edward.

"He got a hold of some documents during the investigation of Scott's death," Edward answered me.

"Agent Ramsey said that there have been murders in La Push and Charlie told us there have been some in Forks also. Have you seen who is doing this?" I asked Alice.

"That's what we were just talking about," Carlisle told me. "She hasn't seen anything to shed light on what's been happening."

"Have you heard from Jacob?" Esme asked me.

"No," I replied, "and I didn't think too much of it until Charlie told me Jake hasn't been returning his calls."

"Really; that's what he said?" At first I thought Edward was talking to me, but then I could see that he and Carlisle were having a conversation of their own; Edward's questions must have been directed at Carlisle's thoughts.

"We were talking about that as well," Carlisle said aloud to Edward.

"What is it?" I interrupted as I scanned both of their faces.

"I was talking to a friend this morning who works at the hospital with me," Carlisle explained. "On his off days, he works at the county morgue. He saw a couple of the murder victims as they came in."

"I was telling him that this part-timer must have nothing better to do then start rumors with fellow hospital scrubs," Emmett laughed.

"When they were brought in," Carlisle continued, "every one of them that my friend saw had almost all of their blood gone. It was odd, so he noticed it." He paused. "Sure, some wounds would… bleed quite a bit, but it wouldn't be like that—not that much gone like that."

It was silent. I couldn't see how this new information factored into what was happening. I reviewed what I knew in my mind. There had been people killed in La Push and Forks. Agent Ramsey thought they were connected to a gang in Seattle. Charlie had tried to call Billy and Jacob, but they hadn't answered. Charlie became worried and thought I might know what was going on. I hadn't seen or heard from Jake in a long time either. What was keeping him so busy? Oh my gosh. What ever keeps the wolves busy? It would be the same thing that would have a use for the blood from the murder victims.

"Vampires," I said out loud. The others in the room looked at me, their expressions somber. It seemed the rest of the Cullens had come to the same conclusion.

"Alice?" Edward asked, "You can't see anything? Do you think it's because the Pack is clouding your view?"

"It's possible," Alice said.

"Or," Carlisle added, "whoever was doing this could have stopped before Alice could see anything—changed their course." Alice could see future events, but she could only see ahead of people to where their current course of action would take them. Once they changed their minds, their future would change.

"Hopefully, we can take that to mean that whoever this did this isn't planning on killing again," Carlisle finished.

I was in our bedroom. Edward and Renesmee were in the front room, sitting on the couch together, reading Shakespeare's Hamlet. It was dark out; it was almost time to put Nessie to bed.

I had tried to call Jacob again today after talking with Carlisle—there had been no answer.

I took the bracelet out of my jewelry box and held it up to look at it again. I stared at the diamond heart and the wooden wolf as my thoughts drifted. Suddenly, my hip vibrated; it was the cell phone in my pocket. I placed the bracelet on the bureau, took out the phone and glanced at its face to see who was calling. I gasped. "Jacob," it said. His home phone number had been programmed into my cell phone, so if it wasn't Jake calling, it was someone calling from his house.

I flipped open the phone. "Hello?"

"Bella?" the person on the other end of the line asked. I recognized the gruff voice. It was Jacob.

"Jake I…" I started to say, but he cut me off before I could finish.

"Bella," he said, "we need to meet and talk."

"Where?" I asked eagerly.

"At the treaty line, south of the clearing," he said. "And you'll come alone."

"Why...?"

"I don't care what excuse you give to get away, just give one," he continued. "And if your other bloodsuckers have already overheard our conversation, you'll tell them you'll come alone for your own sake."

"Jake, what…?"

"I'll see you in a few," he said; then he was gone.

I replaced the phone into my pocket. What excuse was I going to give Edward? "Oh, sorry honey—I know it's practically bedtime for Nessie and it's black as pitch outside, but I feel like going for a run." Yeah right. "Oh no sweetness, everything is fine… actually, I thought I'd go stroll by myself…love you too."

Like that would go over well. What did Jacob take Edward for—a fool? But Jake had said that I should come alone for my own sake even if the rest of the Cullens knew about it. So, I would tell them the truth if it came to that. I wondered if Edward had overheard the phone conversation with his acute vampire hearing.

I went out into the front room and saw Edward and Nessie curled up on the couch with the book: Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. I wondered: if my life was a Shakespearean play, would it be a tragedy or a comedy? A comedy of errors? Not likely. A tragedy then: in which everyone dies at the end? I hoped not. However, perhaps my life was more like a melodrama: the obscure Shakespearean genre that was neither a comedy nor a tragedy. Literature buffs had to give it some kind of name, because to just call it "crap" I imagine wouldn't go over well in the school system.

Was my life a melodrama? I suppose it's better than the alternative—a tragedy. I could live in a melodrama; I could be okay with that.

"Edward," I said, interrupting their reading. They both looked up. I hesitated. "I have to go out Edward, but I'll be back soon."

Edward looked at me with a puzzled expression—nothing different than what I had been expecting. I was eager to see Jacob, but after our brief conversation on the phone, I was feeling that this wouldn't be a friends-catching-up-chat. "What's going on Bella?" Edward asked.

So he hadn't heard the phone conversation in the other room; he must have been engrossed in the book. Renesmee's facial expression was questioning also. Edward and I had agreed on filling Nessie in on what had been happening lately. Of course, some things should be edited for young minds. For example, I didn't tell Nessie the details about the poor people that had died, but I did tell her that someone was doing bad things and that this was why she hadn't seen Jacob in some time. Talking with Nessie about this seemed to relieve some of her worry.

I went back to Edward's question. His expression had become more anxious as I stood there. "I can't really explain," I said, "but I'll be back in a little while, and I need to go alone."

Edward gently pushed Renesmee away from him, as she was half-lying on him, so that he could get up off the couch. He came to stand in front of me. "I'll be alright," I said before he could speak. "Trust me." I smiled to reassure him.

Edward watched me for a minute. "Okay," he said. "When should I expect you back?" I understood what he meant: "How long before I should be worried?"

"Give me a couple of hours," I answered. I didn't exactly know why Jake wanted to see me and how long it would take.

Edward nodded. He leaned forward and took me in his arms. His kiss was passionate, but short. I had a hard time pulling away. I felt relieved at his trust in me; I realized that I really loved that about him. I walked over to where Renesmee sat. I lifted her into my arms, hugged her and kissed her gently on the forehead.

I ran to where Jacob had said to meet. I recognized his scent and slowed to a stop. He was alone and was in his human form. He watched as I approached and came to stand in front of him.

"Hi Jake," I said.

"Hi Bella," he answered in a non-committal tone. It was quiet for a minute. "Bella," he started.

I could see what appeared to be pain in his eyes. "What is it?" I asked.

"Bella, those people in La Push were killed by a vampire."

"We figured as much also," I said. "There have been murders in Forks too. We have to find this rouge vampire and stop him. We…"

"Bella," he cut me off, "it's not just some vampire passing through."

"Why not?" I asked. "What do you mean?"

Jacob cast his eyes to the ground, searching, as if looking for a needle in the grass. His body slumped in what looked like inner conflict. "It can't be a rouge vampire because of the scent left at the scenes of the murders and on the victims."

"I'm not quite following you," I said.

"Bella, the scent was Jasper's."

"What?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"Those people were killed by Jasper, Bella."

"Do you realize what you're saying!" I half-shouted. "You can't believe this!"

"I can't turn away from the evidence!" he shouted back.

"But Jasper would never do this!"

"You can't know that for sure. The evidence says he did it," he retorted.

"I can't believe you Jacob."

"You're going to have to. Sometimes people can't change their nature Bella."

"You mean by being a vampire!" I yelled at him. "You're insane to believe that Jasper killed those people."

"You're being stupid!" he yelled back. "Do you really think this whole thing is easy for me—like I don't care. I care about Renesmee. It sucks that I haven't seen her in awhile because I thought it would be better that way, but we can't ignore what's going on."

"Jacob," I said through gritted teeth, "you obviously can't pick up a scent ten feet in front of you if your life depended on it."

"Ha!" he mock laughed. "I'm sure you didn't mean that to be funny, but our lives really are depending on it." His fists were shaking now. "And I know that it was Jasper's scent," he added. "One of the people killed also happened to be a friend of Leah's; as if she needed more reasons to hate and distrust the bloodsuckers."

"Who do you trust, Jacob?" I asked. "You wanted to meet with me didn't you?"

"I thought you should know," he answered. "And I trusted the Cullens; I really did, until now. The question is, should you be trusting them?"

Before I could say anything more, he was phased and gone, running off into the trees. I stood, frozen in place, a chill on my skin despite the warm, humid air.


	7. Chapter 6: Complications

**Chapter Six: Complications**

"Carlisle, what should we do?" I asked as evenly as I could. Edward, Carlisle and I were sitting in my father-in-law's office an hour or two after midnight. After meeting with Jacob at the clearing, I had returned to find Edward alone in our room and Renesmee in bed. Edward had sat in stunned silence as I relayed to him what Jacob had said about Jasper. Edward had remaining calm while I, on the other hand, was barely able to control my unease. I loved that about Edward—his ability to keep his cool, though I knew it had nothing to do with him being unemotional—he was able to keep his reactions temperate. I appreciated this; it was one less of the two of us that would bounce off the walls.

Now Carlisle sat in front of Edward and I, his face contorted with concern. "Jacob was sure it was Jasper's scent?" Carlisle asked.

"Yes," I answered.

"And he picked up the scent himself?" Carlisle asked. "He wasn't told about it by someone else?"

"I got the impression that he had been at the murder scenes himself," I answered, "but why do you ask?"

"I think it's safe to say that not all of the wolves are as accepting of our alliance as Jacob is," he answered.

I couldn't fathom that any of the kids from La Push would lie about this, but a part of me wished this was the case—it was better than the alternative.

"Could Jasper have been at the scenes to investigate?" Edward asked Carlisle solemnly.

"I think he would have told us about it if that were true," Carlisle answered.

I couldn't believe that Jasper had killed those people. I couldn't believe that he was capable of that even though he had had the hardest time adapting to the "vegetarian" lifestyle of the Cullens.

In the past, Jasper had been upset by my relatively easy time as a newborn vampire. My ability to control my appetite for human blood had no doubt caused him to rethink his assessment of his own "conversion" in a painful way. Jasper had always thought that being a vampire meant that there were some things that were almost impossible to control—the thirst for human blood, for example. The fact that I had been able to control myself around humans so quickly after I was changed made Jasper question his past: what had been due to him being a vampire and what had been due to his own personal shortcomings and flaws.

No one blamed him for his past. Maybe he blamed himself; maybe it had become too much. But would it have been enough to drive him to kill humans?

"We should talk to him," I said suddenly, breaking the silence that had fallen over the room.

"I think that's a good idea," Carlisle said as he met my eyes.

"He's in the living room now," Edward said.

"He's back?" I wondered aloud.

We rose from our chairs and went into the living room. We found Alice and Jasper there. They turned to face us as we entered.

Jasper leaned toward Alice. "You were right, there is something going on. The three of them are leaking anxiety." I tried to read Jasper's and Alice's expressions, but they didn't seem to fit.

Alice was looking at Carlisle, Edward and I. "I saw that you needed to talk to Jasper," she said.

Carlisle hesitated. "Jasper," he paused, "have you been looking into the murders that have been happening?"

"No."

"Has there been another murder?" Alice asked.

"No," Carlisle answered. He seemed to choose his words carefully. Edward appeared to deliberate along with him, being privy to his thoughts. "Jasper," Carlisle began again, "Surely you must know that we all care about you… and that anything that may be happening, we will help you through, but… we've been told that your scent was on the bodies that were found in La Push."

"You're saying that it looks like Jasper killed those people," Alice said. She looked to Jasper with a confused expression.

It was silent for a minute. All we could do was stand and stare at each other. Jasper didn't say anything. His expression looked pained.

"Carlisle," Jasper started, "I would never kill a human now."

"We believe that Jasper," I told him, "but…" I couldn't finish.

"The evidence appears sound," Carlisle finished for me.

"Who told you this?" Jasper asked.

"Jacob talked to Bella," Edward answered him.

"I see," Jasper said. "I don't know what is going on, but I didn't have anything to do with the deaths of those people."

"Jasper has been looking for someone to replace Jason Scott so we can get around if we need to," Alice added. "That's why he's been gone so often lately."

"Why didn't you say something?" I asked suddenly.

"I didn't think it was relevant," Jasper answered. He looked a little offended—and it seemed mostly by me. Even so, I breathed an internal sigh of relief. I believed Jasper's statement of innocence. Someone else was responsible; the question was, who?

I dialed the phone number for what seemed like the hundredth time that morning. I needed to talk to Jacob, though it seemed he was unreachable yet again. Finally, after the seventh ring, someone answered.

"Hello?" It was Jacob.

"Jake," I said, "It's Bella. Where have you been?"

He sounded exhausted as he spoke. "Patrolling late last night and then trying to get a little sleep this morning. I've been up for at least 72 hours straight."

"Then I'm sorry to bother you," and I really was, "but it was important that I talk to you. We spoke with Jasper."

"Oh?"

"He said he wasn't responsible," I said, "and I believe him."

"Bella," Jacob said as he exhaled, "You've got to know how much I want to believe you…"

"Well then I don't get it Jacob," I cut him off in an irritated tone. "Why don't you believe me if you say you want to?"

"I was there. I picked up the scent myself."

"There's something else going on here," I told him.

"I really hope that's the case," Jacob answered, "but I can't hold Sam and a lot of the others off much longer."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that Sam is ready to take care of the problem as he sees it—if you follow me," Jacob replied.

"We'll figure all of this out," I said. "We just need a little more time. And you should take care of yourself Jake; you sound exhausted. Aren't there enough wolves to go around so that you don't have to stay up so long?"

"There's a lot of ground to cover. Plus, there's been a few of us held up with questioning. That FBI agent still seems to think we're doing this for some gang."

"I promise we'll find who's doing this," I said. We hung up our phones. There had to be some explanation for what was going on.

Carlisle had gone to work at the hospital a few hours earlier. I walked into the living room of the Cullen house. I stopped dead in my tracks as I took in the scene there.

The rest of the Cullens were huddled around the couch; Jasper and Esme sat on either side of her. Alice stared straight ahead at nothing; I knew that look.

"What do you see?" Esme asked Alice. We all waited for her response with baited breath.

Alice looked terrified. "There's blood," Alice said, sounding like she was in pain. "There's a man there—I think he's a doctor—he's asking Carlisle if he's alright."

"That can't be good," Edward said quietly. He was kneeling in front of Alice.

"What else do you see," Jasper asked Alice.

"That's it," she responded.

Edward was right—this wasn't good. Being a vampire, Carlisle couldn't bleed, but he was a doctor and was around blood a lot of the time. Was the blood coming from a patient? And why was the other doctor asking Carlisle if he was alright? I knew Carlisle to be the antithesis of what a vampire was; he could function around blood like no other vampire I knew could. Was he having trouble this time? How worried would his colleagues become and what would they see?

"He's not answering his cell phone," Edward said as he clicked his shut.

Esme had already dialed another number: the hospital. "He's in emergency surgery?" Esme questioned the other woman on the line as calmly as I think she could.

I could hear the woman's response. "Yes," she said, "And he can't be reached right now, but I'll let him know you called as soon as he's out. There's no way to tell how long he'll be." Then the line disconnected.

Esme's face remained worried, as did the rest of ours. What was going on? We had to find out before it was too late.

I glanced at the clock; I had stayed in the same position for what seemed like hours. I saw that the rest of the Cullens had also remained as I briefly surveyed the room. Suddenly, Edward's cell phone buzzed. He flipped it open and answered.

"Carlisle," he said. All eyes were now trained on Edward, including mine. Edward was silent for a minute. "Okay," he finally said, and then he hung up the phone. Edward looked to the rest of us. "He's fine," he told us. "He's on his way home and he says there's something we need to hear."

A few minutes past and I heard the garage door open. Carlisle walked in and joined us in the living room. We waited as Alice told Carlisle about her vision.

"I'm sorry you were all worried like that," Carlisle said.

"Alice said there was a lot of blood," I said, "and that another doctor was worried about you. We though maybe…"

"I think I understand Bella," Carlisle said. He smiled slightly. "However, it wasn't the blood that affected me. It was the girl."

"The girl?" Esme asked.

"The girl that was brought into the hospital," Carlisle clarified. He looked over all of us carefully. "I was almost completely sure that she wasn't going to make it… but we did what we could."

"What happened?" Alice asked.

"The girl's wounds were pretty bad," Carlisle explained, "but it was the strong scent that was on her that took me by surprise."

"Who's scent was it?" Rosalie asked.

"Not 'who,' Rosalie, but 'what,'" Carlisle answered. "It was wolf. The wounds and the scent seem to suggest that a wolf was responsible."

"You mean someone from the Pack was responsible," I said.

"Yes, Bella, that is what I mean."


	8. Chapter 7: Vision

**Chapter Seven: Vision**

"So the wolves are retaliating." Rosalie stated.

"That's not possible," I breathed. "They wouldn't hurt a human whether they think Jasper had killed those others or not."

"Maybe you're right Bella," Carlisle agreed, "But maybe there is someone within their ranks that is not as innocent as that."

"There have been a lot of new additions to their pack in the recent past," Jasper added, "Maybe someone is having trouble with the lifestyle."

I shook my head no. "But they still wouldn't hurt…"

"Remember what happened to Emily, Bella," Esme reminded me quietly. Emily had been left with a ghastly scar on her face by someone who cared about her: Sam.

"Sometimes things get out of hand," Jasper said, as if answering my train of thought.

I couldn't possibly believe that any of the wolves would do something intentionally; but an accident? Something that didn't just result in a painful scar, but death?

"Did any of you actually go to the other crime scenes?" Alice asked everyone, though she looked directly at me.

"No," I answered.

"So," Alice continued, "you only have Jacob's word that it was Jasper's scent on the bodies?" I didn't answer; I couldn't.

"You should try calling Jacob," Carlisle said to me. "I tried to call him, Sam, and even Billy before I came home, but no one answered my calls."

I went up to Carlisle's office so that I could use my cell phone in a quiet room. I dialed Jacob's home number. It continued to ring, with no answer, for what seemed like forever. Finally I hung up. There was only one thing left to do that I could think of.

I slipped out of the house and into the garage without the others noticing. I got into Edward's Volvo and drove down the driveway. The sun was setting in the sky. When I reached the end of the driveway, I pulled out and turned, on my way to La Push.

I made it to the treaty line quickly. I pushed on the accelerator even harder; I didn't know how long I would have before the wolves found out that I, a vampire, had crossed into wolf territory, and I needed the chance to talk to Jacob.

The trees flew by on either side as I sped down the road towards Jacob's house. Suddenly, there was something else beside me, keeping pace with the car. I realized it was a wolf, though I couldn't see who it was. He or she didn't make a move to intercept me, so I continued on until I pulled up in front of Jacob's house.

I got out of the car and was surprised to meet Seth in his human form—clothing haphazardly thrown on. "You're lucky it was me watching the borderline," he said as he came to stand in front of me. "Anyone else would have chased you out… or worse." Seth's tone was serious, but I didn't miss the small smile on his face that I took to mean he was happy to see me.

"I'm sorry Seth," I said. "I had to take the chance to come see Jacob. He hasn't been answering his phone."

"Of course he hasn't," Seth said, his eyes turning pained and tired-looking. "Jacob's been getting questioned, along with Sam, by that FBI agent almost all day. Billy's with them."

"I don't see why Agent Ramsey is still stuck on the Pack," I said angrily. "He has to know you guys don't have anything to do with it; there's no evidence."

"There's plenty of evidence," Seth told me, his expression now somber and devoid of its previous smile. "Ramsey was trying to get confessions from us earlier, but now I guess he's got enough evidence to bring charges without them."

"I don't understand how," I said, unbelieving.

"I don't know either," Seth continued, "but that's what we're up against." He looked at me for a minute, as if debating, then said, "So you came to see Jacob then?"

"Yes," I replied. I had come to see Jacob; to try and dispel the suspicions the others had brought up about the wolves. But Jacob wasn't here. Instead he was being interrogated by some FBI Agent intent on chasing after ghosts and false leads. I thought about what Carlisle had said—about what he had told us of the young woman that had died in the hospital after he tried to save her. Was Ramsey aware of something that I wasn't? Was he more on track than I had thought? It didn't make logical sense that an experienced FBI agent on a gang task force would pursue the wrong suspect. The pieces started to fit together in my mind, but I couldn't think that way. If the pieces did fit together, I couldn't accept what that would mean.

"I need to talk to Jacob as soon as possible," I finally said to Seth. "Will you have him call me as soon as he's done?"

"Sure," Seth agreed.

"Thanks," I said. "We'll figure this out… I promise."

"I'm sure you will," he said.

I drove back home without incident. The sun had dipped below the trees and the horizon. I pulled the car into the garage and went inside. I found the rest of the Cullens huddled around the coffee table in the living room. I walked closer and fit my head in between Edward's and Carlisle's shoulders.

Alice was kneeling behind the coffee table, sketching something on a piece of paper. I moved within the circle of Cullens to get a better look. Alice had drawn a road, as if we were standing on it, and there were trees off of either side. Her eyes were open and staring into nothing; she was having a vision. While we watched, she drew a longish object at the base of the trees; soon the hands and feet became apparent, as well as the long hair pooled at the ground. The object she had drawn was a woman, lying as if she were dead. Alice stopped drawing and finally looked down at what she had sketched. With all that was happening, I doubted this vision could mean anything else except another murder.

"Maybe we could get there before it happens," Edward said as he looked over me at Carlisle.

"And perhaps find out who's been doing this," Carlisle said as he looked back at Edward.

I turned my attention back to Alice's drawing. "There are a million places this could be," I said. Trees alongside roads was the dominant scene in this area.

"But we do know where this is," Edward replied.

"How?" I asked.

"Here; look," he told me, pointing to a small, rectangular shape jutting out of the road. "It's a mile marker."

I could see it now; Alice had drawn the sign marking the mile number on the road. It wasn't the first thing that would catch one's attention in the picture, but there it was—the thing that would lead us to the exact spot in Alice's vision.

"We should go," Edward told Carlisle.

"You're right," Carlisle said, stepping out of the half-circle surrounding Alice. "Edward, you'll come along, and Jasper…"

"Do you think that's wise?" Alice was alert and looking at Carlisle.

"Yes, I do," Carlisle answered. "We don't know… what we may find. Jasper would be good to have along if… if it came to a fight."

Part of me agreed with Alice; if the wolves were involved, seeing Jasper may not be the best thing, but I also agreed with Carlisle; Jasper was good to have around if the situation, whatever that would be, escalated. "I'm coming too," I said.

"Bella, I don't think…" Edward started, but Carlisle interrupted him.

"It would also be good to have Bella there," Carlisle said, and then he paused before continuing, "Bella may be able to calm our friends before it comes to a fight." Edward nodded once in reluctant agreement.

Carlisle had gotten the Mercedes fixed after the accident, and this was the car we climbed into. Carlisle proceeded to drive down the main road in the area, where we suspected the mile marker was. Edward sat up front with him, and Jasper sat beside me in the back seat.

We continued to speed down the road, the Mercedes' headlights briefly touching each mile marker as we passed, illuminating them. I was so concentrated on the little, green, reflective signs that it was only after we were a couple of miles in, did I realize that we had crossed the treaty line into wolf territory.

"Carlisle," I began, in a concerned tone.

"I know," Carlisle said before I could finish. I didn't think it wise to be crossing into the wolves' territory in the present situation, but we had to prevent whatever was going to happen, and Carlisle must have been thinking the same.

At last, I saw the mile marker we were looking for. Carlisle pulled the car off the road and into the dirt. We got out of the car. Before us stood the trees, as we faced the forest, as well as a bush right in front of us. I didn't remember a bush from Alice's drawing. As we walked closer, I could see that the bush's roots were exposed; it looked like it had been uprooted and just laid there.

"Over here!" Jasper called. He had walked around to the back of the bush, which was shielded from view from the road.

The rest of us circled around, and then we saw her. The young woman was lying on her back on the ground. Her eyes were open and unseeing. Her hair was pooled beside her face, just as Alice's picture had shown, along with blood—a lot of blood.

Carlisle knelt beside the woman and touched her skin. "This is recent," Carlisle said solemnly as he passed his hand over her eyes to close them. "Very recent."

"How can you tell?" I asked.

"Her temperature."

"How recent?" Edward asked.

"I'd say 15 minutes to a half of an hour," Carlisle answered. He seemed crestfallen—no, worse than that—he seemed devastated. I imagined that this was how he felt when he tried to save the other young woman in the hospital, but was too late.

"The bush…" Jasper began.

"Yes," Edward answered the thought in Jasper's mind. "The bush looks like it was put here… deliberately."

"But why would they do that?" I asked.

"It looks like they didn't want her to be seen from the road." Jasper answered.

"But they could have just dragged her further into the woods," I said. Though the woman's eyes were closed now, I could still see them open and hopeful, the scene burned into my memory. "It seems like it would take a lot less effort to drag her further in, and behind another tree, than to uproot a whole bush."

"And the bush wasn't in Alice's vision," Carlisle added. He was still kneeling beside the girl.

"But the mile marker was," Edward began, "and so was the body." I watched him as he concentrated for a moment before continuing. "It's almost as if…It's like someone wanted _us_ to find her, and only us."

"Who?" I asked.

"Probably the same person who's been doing this all along," Jasper said. The look on his face seemed smug, satisfied. Jasper and Edward had a wordless exchange to which Edward nodded.

"What is it?" I asked, a little frustrated that I wasn't being included.

Edward looked at me, his face sad and pained. "What?" I asked again, dreading the answer, but he didn't reply.

"You don't smell that?" Jasper asked me, the smugness still apparent in his voice.

I concentrated on the scents around me, which I hadn't bothered to do before. It was… "Oh my gosh," I breathed as I identified one scent in particular—the same scent that I suspected the others had picked out before me. I couldn't say anything else.

"The wolves," Carlisle confirmed. I didn't want to agree with him, though I already knew it was true. How could it be possible? A woman was dead and a wolf had done it. I scrutinized her injuries; they weren't clean. Parts of her had been ripped, as if by claws.

Edward expression suddenly changed as he looked off into the woods. "What is it?" I asked him.

"Wolves are coming," he answered.


	9. Chapter 8: Confrontation

**Chapter Eight: Confrontation**

"We should go," Carlisle said as he stood up quickly.

"That'll only make us look guilty," Jasper protested.

"And what would you bloodsuckers be guilty of?" someone's voice came from behind the trees. I turned and saw that the voice belonged to Leah. Jacob was beside her. They were in their human forms, their clothing rumpled.

"Don't try anything stupid," Leah continued. "We can phase real quick if we need to."

"It's easier to talk this way," Jacob added. I gave him a smile, but he didn't return it. "And," he continued, "I didn't want your mind-reader to be able to read the whole Pack." Ouch; my smile disappeared.

"Of course you wouldn't want that," Jasper sneered.

Leah seemed to ignore the comment and looked to Carlisle instead. "Looks like someone broke the treaty," she said.

"We didn't do this," I said as I stared at Leah incredulously. She made an "as if" sound. "The smell of wolf is all over the body," I asserted, the anger rising in me.

"You're lying," Jacob said with a challenging stare. Jacob had said he wanted to believe me when we spoke last—only a few days ago. Now it seemed as if that desire was not longer there; he had made up his mind to not trust my family… or me.

"Interesting that you're here," Jacob continued.

"Alice saw this in a vision," Edward replied.

"Funny," Jacob said, though he wasn't amused. "That seems pretty darned convenient. Plus, I didn't think the psychic could see anything when we were around. Doesn't that mean it couldn't have been a wolf?"

"You could have been out of the area long enough for her to see," Jasper replied. "And it's pretty suspect that you're here too."

"It's our land," Jacob shot back.

"I'm sorry," Carlisle said, putting his hands forward to show surrender. "We shouldn't have crossed into your territory, but we wanted to stop this from happening." He gestured to the dead girl.

"Sure you did," Leah snorted. "I never did think mountain lions could be good enough for your kind."

"Our family is different," I protested.

"You're no different," Jacob said, looking as if he were directing the words at me. "Bloodsuckers are all the same."

I didn't have a lot of time to dwell on how much Jacob's word hurt me. The situation was escalating. Jacob's arms were shaking. Jasper and Edward were rearing, and even Carlisle seemed to stand at the ready.

Then the light was on us. The white flooded the area around us, but we were still hidden behind the uprooted bush and the trees. "This is the FBI!" someone yelled. I recognized the voice—it was Agent Ramsey. "Come on out with your hands were I can see them!"

"What the hell is this?" Leah demanded under her breath from her place behind one of the trees.

"Must've stayed human too long," Jacob said through clenched teeth. "When I left Ramsey this morning, I had a feeling he was going to follow me."

"Please come on out Jacob!" The voice startled us all. It was Charlie's voice; Charlie was here with Ramsey.

We couldn't see them from where we hid, though the light filtered through the trees. "They have their guns drawn," Edward whispered, using their thoughts to give us eyes. "But we could easily move out of the way and get out of here."

"Sounds like a plan," Jacob agreed.

"We should go now," Carlisle said. "We can take our conversation to another area."

"Who's going to grab the stiff?" Leah asked resentfully. "It's such a waste Carlisle," she continued sarcastically. "We must have caught you in the middle of it, because there's an awful lot of blood left."

"Stop it!" I suddenly said. It was too loud. The humans advanced on us. Agent Ramsey and Charlie weren't alone; Ramsey had brought backup, naturally.

In that instant, we ran further into the woods. I heard the officers and agents cry out behind us when they found the dead girl behind the bush. Some of them continued to follow us, but we were faster. Soon, we were far enough away, though I could still hear their panting clearly.

I was just about to stop running when something stopped me instead. I tumbled backwards; which, for a vampire, was more like taking three steps backwards and keeping my balance almost perfectly. I felt Edward's hand on my arm to steady me; there seemed to be an urgency in his grip. I was confused; there wasn't really anything for him to be worried about—I had only bumped into a tree, though I don't know how I could have missed seeing it.

Finally, I looked up from the ground and in front of me. Edward's had remained on my arm—and now I understood why.

He was standing in front of me. It hadn't been a tree that I had slammed into; it was Demetri—the prized "hit man" of the Volturi guard. What was the Volturi doing here? I also noticed that Demetri was not alone. Next to him stood another vampire, five inches shorter than Demetri. His black hair hung to just above his chin in greasy clumps. He didn't appear as muscular as Demetri either.

Demetri noticed my scrutinizing look. "Don't underestimate my friend here," he said, gesturing to the vampire that stood beside him. "Trevor here is fast and deadly."

Trevor brought his gaze to me. His features were striking, and his were penetrating as they looked into mine. His eyes were the same deep red as other vampires who fed on humans, but they also seemed more intense as they appeared to flash.

"To what do we owe this pleasure of the Volturi's company?" Carlisle asked, breaking me from my reverie.

"I would appreciate if you don't play dumb with me," Demetri answered.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Carlisle said evenly.

"I suppose it was long overdue," Demetri continued as if he didn't hear Carlisle. "A coven of pledged 'vegetarian' vampires—really Carlisle—how long could that last? How long before they go on a hunting spree?"

"We're not responsible for the human deaths," I protested.

"Really Bella," Demetri chided. He chuckled and returned his gaze to Carlisle. "We're here because the Volturi has decided that what you've done requires intervention."

"What?!" Jasper questioned loudly.

Demetri looked at us firmly. "You Cullens can't expect to run a rampage in a quiet town and not draw the attention of the Volturi."

"There's been a mistake," Carlisle told him. "We're not responsible for this."

"There has been a mistake, Carlisle," Demetri said. "It was when the Volturi allowed you to continue here. Your coven should have been destroyed a long time ago."

"Maybe it's been the Volturi doing this," Jacob finally spoke, as he had been silent this whole time.

"I'd stay out of this if I were you," Demetri told Jacob, then he turned back to Carlisle. "You can come quietly, and answer for what you've done, or you can make it hard on yourselves." The Volturi intended to kill us.

"Seems to me you're a little outnumbered," Jacob shot.

"Here's the thing," Demetri said coolly. "Bella's father, Charlie is out by his car near the road." He smiled ruefully. "Who do you think will reach him first? Trevor is the fastest there is. So are you going to come quietly?"

Before I could think things through rationally, I turned the way we came and tore through the woods. I was sure Trevor was following me; maybe he had already passed me. I had to be the first to get to Charlie.

I ran until a loud noise stopped me; it was a gunshot. I was near the road now. Who was shooting? Had Trevor reached Charlie before me? Then I heard another shot and the breaking of auto glass.

I noticed that Edward was beside me. "Someone's shooting at Charlie," he said.

"Where's Trevor?!" I demanded.

In that same instant, another voice I didn't recognize called out. "Come and get me!" the shooter yelled crazily. I didn't think it could be Trevor.

The shooter fired again. This time, I heard it hit something soft, like flesh. I heard Charlie call out as he dropped to the ground. "Charlie!" I yelled as I ran forward.


	10. Chapter 9: More Questions

**Chapter Nine: More Questions**

I felt Edward's hand stop me from advancing. "Edward!" I yelled, "Let me go!"

"Bella," he answered, "Charlie's okay. The bullet just hit the seat of a car. We need to figure out who is behind this. I'm going after the shooter."

"So am I." Jacob was beside us quickly.

I could hear Charlie's voice raised above the others; he was shouting orders at his officers. He sounded alright. "I'm coming too," I decided.

How hard could it be to catch the shooter? We'd be able to run faster than he probably thought possible; and he'd have to answer for what he had done. We took off running after him. I was aware of the three members of my family, and the two phased wolves, running with us.

The shooter had moved fast. I listened as I ran, trying to hear his clumsy, human feet against the ground, his breathing, or his heartbeat, but I couldn't hear anything. How had he moved out of range that quickly? Then the scent filled my nose and I understood. He was a vampire. I pushed aside all of the new questions that this information brought, and concentrated on running. After running for several miles, I could see the Cullen house. His scent led us towards it.

Edward was faster than the rest of us. He ran into the living room. I heard a table topple to the floor, along with the vase that was on top of it, as we entered the room. Edward had pinned the vampire against the wall; his hand gripped his neck.

The vampire was tall—a few inches taller than Edward. He was clean-shaven, and his dusty, brown hair was cut to a conservative length. His eyes were red and shining. He had an odd grin on his face, like he was amused.

"Who are you?" I demanded. "Why did you kill those people?"

The vampire chuckled. "I don't suppose you'd let me call my lawyer, would you?"

"What?" I began incredulously.

"Good job Will," came a disappointed voice from behind me. I spun around to look at the young woman. She stood a few inches taller than me. Her wavy, blond hair hung past her shoulder blades. She was dressed in clothes that clung to her hourglass figure. Her eyes were blue, and her skin was lightly tanned.

"Ah!" the vampire exclaimed. "My girlfriend—even better."

I recognized the woman who stood there—the one that this vampire had called his girlfriend. It was Ariel: the girl that had rear-ended us in Port Angelas a few days ago. She seemed different though. After the accident she had been flustered and girlish. Now she was cool, calm, and almost expressionless.

Her words broke through my thoughts. "You were supposed to lead them back here and then disappear," she told the vampire. Her words suggested irritation, though her tone and expression were still calm and even.

"Alexis?" I turned to see Jacob staring at the girl I knew as Ariel.

"Who's Alexis?" Jasper asked Jacob.

"You were in La Push the other day," Jacob said to the woman. "Billy and I met you at the grocery store."

Jasper looked intently at the young woman, who continued to stand very calm. "There seems to be some confusion about your identity," Jasper told the girl.

She seemed to ignore his remark. "I'd appreciate it if you let my friend go, Edward," she said, indicating Edward's hand, which was still around Will's neck, his back pressed against the wall. "I can assure you that William did not kill those humans," she continued. "Your issue is with the Volturi."

Carlisle cut in. "But we met…"

"You met them in the woods," Ariel finished for him. "Demetri and Trevor. Yes, I know."

"They thought we had killed the humans," I said.

She now turned to look at me. "That's what they told you, yes. It was Demetri's poor attempt at improvising to catch you off guard…"

"What are you talking about?" I interrupted her.

"The Volturi want you dead," Ariel answered simply, not bothering with tact. "That was the reason for their elaborate, little scheme."

"Scheme?" Jacob and I said together in disbelief.

"It's been the Volturi all along, hasn't it?" Jasper remarked with a knowing smile.

"Yes," Ariel confirmed. "And, you should know, they're bound to try again."

"I don't understand. Where do you fit in all of this?" Carlisle asked.

"I'll answer your questions, but only after you let Will go." Edward studied her for a minute, then released his grip on Will. Will nodded to Ariel, indicating that he was okay. "My name is Anastasia and this is my fiancé, William Luckey," she said. "I was sent here by the Volturi, along with Demetri and Trevor."

"You work for the Volturi?" I asked.

"I'm a member of the Volturi guard," Anastasia clarified.

"But you're human," I said.

Anastasia smiled, as if at some inside joke that we were too dumb to understand. "I'm only half-human," she said finally, "like your daughter." Suddenly, as if a light had been turned on, I could see that her blue eyes were flecked with red. "My talents made it easy for the Volturi to carry out their plan here," she continued.

"What talent would that be?" Carlisle asked, interested.

"I can change my scent, and the scents of what's around me," Anastasia answered.

"That's why the murder victims smelled like wolf or vampire," Edward said suddenly.

Anastasia nodded. "I need only to touch someone to mimic their scent," she went on. "That's what I did with Jacob in La Push, and with you and Jasper after the car accident. You all, of course, had no idea what I was, because I masked the scent of the vampire side of me. Instead, what you saw was a regular, human girl."

"Why did you kill those humans?" I asked. "What good would it do the Volturi?"

Anastasia looked at me like I was thick. "To turn the Cullens and the wolves against each other of course," she said. "The plan was perfect: Kill Scott Young in case anyone decided on buying plane tickets," she eyed me when she said this, "Then kill humans and plant false scents for your benefit, and plant evidence of gang activity for the FBI's benefit—so the kids in La Push would be investigated. So their stress and suspicions, on top of your stress and suspicions," she indicated the Cullens, "would cause your groups to destroy one another."

"I don't believe it," I said, even though it all was beginning to make sense in my mind.

"Believe it," Anastasia said. "Aro's plan was perfect. First, he would have the Cullens destroyed. Second, he would be sending a message to all those who were there to witness your little stand-off last year, that to ally with non-vampires is a bad idea." He glanced at Jacob and Leah. "And third, he would do it all without anyone suspecting the Volturi was involved."

"But it didn't work," Jasper prodded.

Anastasia sighed. "Yes," she said. "Despite the perfect set-up, those of you in the woods were planning on having a little chit-chat instead, to work things out. Aro's original plan didn't call for a lot of back-up, so Demetri and Trevor confronted you in the woods, with the story that the Volturi thought the Cullens were responsible—all so they could catch you off-guard while I came from behind to finish it."

"But you didn't finish it," Carlisle pointed out.

"I didn't," Anastasia confirmed. "I had Will create a diversion to get you out of there."

"Why?" I asked softly, as I allowed everything to sink in. "Why didn't you finish what you came here to do?"

Anastasia met my gaze. "I don't agree with everything Aro does," she answered. "This is one of those times."

"That's awfully vague," Jasper said suddenly, with a hint of anger in his tone. "How do we know this isn't part of the plan too?"

Anastasia looked at Jasper. Then her lips curled into a smile. "You don't," she said simply.

Then Will spoke up. I had almost forgotten he was there. "Ana risked a lot by helping you," he said. "You ought to show her some gratitude."

"Oh really?" Jasper said sarcastically. "What did she risk? Will Aro not give her a bonus check this year?"

"You don't understand," Will said in frustration.

"What don't I understand?" Jasper pushed.

"Will!" Ana said, as if to caution him to stop talking—though he didn't listen.

Instead he stared down at Jasper. "Ana is Aro's daughter," he said, "his biological daughter."

Had I heard that right? The room suddenly went very silent and very still. No one spoke. I looked over at Ana, trying to read her face, though she kept her expression well guarded.

"I didn't know Aro had a daughter," Carlisle said finally, almost breathless.

"Not a lot of people do," Ana said, before Will could say anything else. "Mostly, it's because of the work that I do. Hunting, and working jobs for the Volturi, with my special talent, wouldn't be as easy if everyone knew who I was."

So the Volturi had kept her a secret. Then, suddenly, another thought came to my mind—one so obvious that I didn't know why it hadn't surfaced before now. I spoke up, breaking through everyone's thoughts. "If Aro knew about hybrids—even had a daughter," I said, "then why did he claim to know nothing of them last year?" My words caught in my throat. "Why did he bring the entire Volturi guard down on us, saying that we had an immortal child?"

Ana met my gaze. Her eyes held no sadness, no regret, and no sympathy. She spoke as though she were commenting on the weather. "Aro knew you didn't have an immortal child," she said. "At the very least, he highly suspected you didn't. He used that as an excuse to destroy you and make an example out of your family in the process. But, he didn't count on you finding other half-humans and having an army of wolves with you. So, he decided to try again: now."

It had all been a lie. Aro had known about hybrids—or half-humans—all along. It had never been about upholding vampire rules. It had always been about killing my family.

As if Ana could read my thoughts, she continued. "Aro found out he'd never be able to make any of the Cullens work for the Volturi when Bella first came to Volterra as a human. He could see the bond your family had; and he could see the danger of your power together. It also hasn't escaped his notice that Carlisle seems to have a knack for turning very talented humans into very gifted and powerful vampires. He's been trying to destroy the Cullens ever since." Then Ana chuckled without humor. "But there are others who believe the Volturi is corrupt. Aro wouldn't risk turning your family into martyrs and losing loyalty, so he's treaded carefully—biding his time, and coming up with the proper excuses."

It was silent until Edward suddenly spoke up. "I can't read you," he said to Ana. "Is that another one of your abilities? Though, I didn't think there was anyone else like Bella."

"There isn't," Ana replied. "At least, not any that I know of." Edward looked confused, so Ana continued. "Living with Alec, Jane, and Aro, one learns how to control the mind. It's difficult, and not foolproof, but it comes in handy."

"And all I'm getting from you," Edwards turned to Will, "is 'B-i-n-g-o, and Bingo was his name-o.'" Will grinned.

"He's less practiced than me," Ana said to Edward. "If I want, I can also place thoughts in my head, for you to read, deliberately—which is what I did after the accident."

"Then you can do something your father can't," Edward said to her.

Ana smiled. "No," she corrected. "He can do the same—which is why you didn't figure out the truth behind his actions last year when he came to visit." She glanced at Jasper and then Alice. "That, on top of changing plans back and forth to prevent you from getting visions, made this child's play."

"You can't possibly believe it would be easy to turn us against each other," Jacob retorted.

"We got pretty damn close," Ana shot back. Then her tone and her look turned sarcastic. "We knew it wouldn't have been the Cullens that cracked first. It's the wolves that are the unstable, loose cannons." Jacob glared at her angrily. "Hence, why we concentrated on planting evidence for Mr. Ramsey."

"You kept me from seeing things until you wanted us to find a body," Alice said. "Then you led us right to it." Ana nodded, showing no remorse. That girl at the side of the road had been a set-up to try and push both of our groups over the edge.

Ana's expression remained cool. Her smile seemed to show that she was somehow pleased with what she had done. "What does your mother think of all of this?" I asked, suddenly interested in the female figure in Ana's life. "What does she think about what you do for your father?"

"Frankly, I don't think my mother is able to give a crap," Ana answered. I thought I heard hurt in her voice, though she covered it quickly. "The wife Aro has in Italy with him now is not my mother," she continued matter-of-factly. "Aro was involved with a human girl from Spain a long time ago, when he was younger. She had me, and died in childbirth."

"Your mother didn't want to be changed into a vampire?" I inquired.

Ana was quiet for a moment, and I saw her blue, red-specked eyes flash. Then she spoke as if she couldn't care less. "Aro didn't give her the option."

As the others began to converse quietly around me, another thought burst into my mind: Renesme. I had left Renesme with Charlie, but he had been in the forest with Agent Ramsey. Edward walked over to me; the expression on my face must have caused him concern.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I left Nessie with Charlie," I answered.

"Charlie wouldn't have left Nessie alone," he said, seeing my train of thought.

"I know," I said quickly. "I just have this awful feeling." I glanced around the room to see if anyone had caught our conversation; no one, it seemed, had heard.

"Call him," Edward broke through my thoughts. I looked back at him with what must have been a huge question mark on my face. "Call Charlie," he repeated.

I nodded in agreement. I took out my cell phone from my pocket and hit the speed dial button for Charlie's cell phone. "Hey," Charlie answered after a few rings. "Bells, I'm kind of busy right now." In the background, I could hear a lot of commotion punctuated every so often by Ramsey's raised voice.

"Where's Renesme?" I asked.

"She's fine Bella," he answered. "I got called to a murder scene, and I couldn't get a hold of you, so I had one of the cadets go over to the house to be with Nessie. Mary Jane Wilcox is a good officer; Nessie will be fine." I heard more raised voices in the background. "Bells," Charlie then said, "I've got to go. I'm kind of in the middle of something."

"I just have this bad feeling," I said, more to myself.

Charlie rushed through the words as he spoke. "I'll give her a call to see how they're doing, if that will make you feel better."

"Yes," I told him.

We hung up. I waited for Charlie to call back. How many minutes had passed? It seemed to take too long. Finally, I felt my phone vibrate.

"She's not answering her cell or her radio," Charlie said as soon as I answered my phone. I knew he was talking about Cadet Wilcox. "I tried the home phone too," he added.

"Charlie," I began, "I have a bad feeling."

"Yeah, I know," he agreed, as he now seemed to be fully invested in my growing concerns. "I'm going to go over there and check on things. With all the murders going on lately…" he broke off. "I'm sure everything is fine," he added, trying not to worry me. "I'll call you." Then he hung up.

Like heck I was going to wait for his call. I suddenly looked up at the rest of the people in the room; I hadn't noticed, until then, that their talking had stopped and that they were all looking at me. My eyes caught Ana's gaze in particular; the look on her face confused me—was it knowing?—then it was gone.

"We need to go to Charlie's house," I told Edward. He nodded once in response. Ana moved to follow us.

"I'm coming too," Ana said to Edward, seeming to ignore my presence.

The three of us got into Edward's Volvo, since Carlisle's Mercedes was still at the crime scene; I wasn't sure how we were going to explain that one. As we sped through the night, I hoped that we weren't going to find another crime scene.

We made it to Charlie's house in record time, with Edward driving. It would take Charlie longer to get here. We got out of the car, and I could see that there were lights on inside the house. It was quiet. I noticed Ana taking in the scents on the air. She looked over to Edward with a sharp look, and I followed her gaze. Edward's eyes got huge and he bounded towards the front door.

"What is it?" I shouted after him as I followed.

"I can't hear any thoughts!" he called to me. Did that mean no one was there? Then it hit me—the smell of blood—Edward couldn't read the thoughts of people that were dead.

We entered the living room, and there lie a woman that I assumed to be Cadet Wilcox. She was crumpled in a very unnatural position on the floor, and there was blood pooled around her. But where was Renesme? I was pulled from my thoughts when I saw Ana lift Wilcox unceremoniously to her lips; she took a sample of the blood clotted at the gash on her neck.

"What are you doing?!" I cried.

Ana spoke matter-of-factly. "Demetri took time to play with his food."

"How would you know that?" I asked, still shocked at her callousness.

Ana looked at me severely. "The adrenaline in her blood," she answered simply. "I can also tell you that she's had mono in the past, she's anemic, and she's eaten red meat within the last twelve hours."

"Where is Renesme?" I asked as my concern grew. For the moment, I had to push aside the fact that Wilcox, a person with a life and a family, now lie dead at my feet; though Ana didn't seem as upset by this as me.

Instead of answering me, Ana picked up a gun on the floor that probably had belonged to Wilcox. "The clip is empty," Ana said, more to herself than to me. "But I don't see any shell casings."

Edward went up the stairs to my old room, and Ana and I followed. Ana picked up a bullet casing, and there were several others littering the floor. "Renesme was up here," Ana said. Then she turned her gaze to the open window, and appeared to take in the scents around her. "Trevor came through the window," she explained. "He grabbed Renesme. Wilcox tried to stop him." She held up the shell casing as proof. "Wilcox ran downstairs to try and head off Trevor after he jumped out the window. Demetri finished her in the living room."

"Demetri has Renesme?" I asked breathlessly. What I was hearing couldn't be possible.

"That would appear to be the case," Ana responded.

"Then we have to go after them," I said in a rush. "We have to get Renesme back."

"Bella," Ana began, "It's probably been over an hour since they were here. They could be anywhere by now." Then she turned away to look around the room. "In fact, they probably came here right after you chased Will out of the woods." I heard her chuckle without humor as she shook her head back and forth. "Plan B," she said.

"Then we follow their scent. We'll get the wolves to help." I was frustrated with her lack of urgency.

Ana turned back to look at me. "I'll bet the trail runs cold at the airport," she said.

"You think that they're taking Nessie to Italy?" Edward suddenly asked.

"That would be my guess," Ana replied. "Though there might be a way that we can find out for sure."

"How do we do that?" Edward asked.

"We should go back to your house," Ana said.

"We can't waste any time!" I protested. "We should go after them now!"

"Our best chance is to try and find out where they're going for sure and head them off," Ana said severely. "Just running after them won't solve anything." I didn't appreciate her tone; this wasn't her daughter we were trying to find.

Suddenly, I could hear sirens in the distance. Ana seemed to hear them too. "Probably your father and the rest of the cavalry since they couldn't get through to Wilcox," she said to me.

"Can you help us find Renesme?" Edward asked Ana.

"We should go back to your house," Ana gave as her answer.

We left right before Charlie's police cruiser pulled up in front of the house. Edward sped through the thick, dark night, on our way back home.


	11. Chapter 10: Unlikely Help

**Chapter Ten: Unlikely Help**

When we arrived back at the house, Ana didn't bother filling the others in on what we found; instead she spoke to Will. "Call our contact and have him run a check on the airports: all aliases that we know of for Demetri or Trevor."

"You can trust this contact?" Edward asked.

"Yes," Ana answered curtly.

Will took out his cell phone and spoke in a quick, hushed tone in the corner. While he did, Edward filled the others in. Ana was also among the group, but stood off to the side. She leaned against a table, seeming to study the floor—appearing deep in thought.

"Why would Demetri use an alias that you know about?" Rosalie suddenly asked. I could tell she didn't like Ana. I didn't like her much either—we didn't know anything about her—but I was desperate for help to find Renesme. Though, I still couldn't get rid of a sinking feeling that something about this wasn't right.

"It's worth a try," Ana answered like she was talking about a new brand of soap, and not my daughter's kidnapper. "It's the only lead we have right now."

As if on cue, Will snapped his phone shut and walked over to us. He turned to Ana as he spoke. "We got lucky," he said. "Both of them used one of their usual aliases. They booked plane tickets, out of Seatac Airport, going to Houston and Kennedy Airports.

"They split up?" Carlisle wondered.

"Then which one of them has Renesme?" I asked.

"That's easy," Jacob said. "Which one of them booked two tickets on the same flight?"

"Each ticket was one-way; one ticket each to New York and Houston," Will replied.

"How's that possible?" Jacob asked.

I looked to Ana and saw understanding fill her expression. "It wasn't luck," she said, more to herself. The she looked at me. "This could mean one of two things. First, that they don't want us to know which one of them has Renesme."

"You can't forge a passenger manifest or ticket records," Rosalie retorted.

"You can if you have contacts in the TSA," Will said. So, was just about every organization infiltrated by the Volturi?

"What's the other possibility?" I asked.

Ana looked at me with no feeling in her eyes. "The other possibility is that Renesme is already dead."

"That can't be," I said as I sunk into the chair behind me. If my heart wasn't already still, it would have frozen in my chest right then.

"This is just like Demetri," Ana said quietly, lost again in her own thoughts.

"Would you like to share with the class?" Jacob asked testily.

Ana looked at him as if it was a bother to keep us apprised of her thoughts. "He used aliases that I'm familiar with," she said like it was obvious. Then she chuckled without humor. "He's goading me," she finally said. "He's leaving an obvious trail. He wants me to come after him." Ana pushed off of the table, stood up straight, and continued. "Houston and New York City are just jumping off points on the way to Italy. The plan is to split us up—divide and conquer—and end it here in the states. Aro doesn't want the fight on his doorstep if he can help it; though, I'm sure they'll finish you off in Volterra if that doesn't work."

"You mean that the Volturi are still trying to kill us?" Alice asked.

Ana nodded. "Plan B," she said.

"Did you know about this?" Jasper asked Ana.

"Of course not," Ana spat. "I just know Demetri and Aro well enough to figure it out."

"That's convenient," Jasper retorted.

"You're right, it is convenient," Ana answered. "It's convenient for you, is what it is; because, right now, I'm the only one that can help you find Renesme."

It was quiet as Ana and Jasper stared down each other. I half expected a fight to break out. Then I found my voice. "I'll ask Aro to take me instead, and let Renesme go," I said, breaking through the emotionally charged atmosphere.

As I said this, Ana shifted her gaze to me; her expression was condescending. "You're being stupid," she said bluntly.

"Why is that stupid?" I snapped at her. "This isn't your daughter we're talking about. And, besides, we're wasting time here."

"I agree," Jacob said hotly.

Ana's expression didn't change as she spoke to me. "It's stupid," she said, "because you fail to see the beauty of Aro's plan."

"Would you care to enlighten us?" Rosalie questioned sarcastically.

Now Ana's expression shifted to amusement, and a smile crept into her lips. "Aro is no longer interested in you or any of your other family members. He knows none of you will ever be loyal to the Volturi—he's not going to agree to a trade. He had Demetri take Renesme because he knew you would go after her. And while you're running after her, Demetri and Trevor will be sure to pick up reinforcements on the way to make killing your family easier."

"Then he won't hurt Renesme," I said. "He just wants the rest of us."

Ana stepped closer to me and continued. "If Aro kills Renesme, you'll still go to Volterra. You see—he accomplishes his task either way. Aro is not going to bargain, because he already holds all of the cards. " Ana smirked. "Aro enjoys his little mind games; and everyone goes along with them because they have no other alternative."

Edward put his hand on my as a gesture of comfort. "What is our best plan then?" he asked Ana.

"Your best plan would be to let Renesme go," Ana replied coldly. "Quit while you're ahead, and don't walk into Aro's trap."

"I'm not going to do that!" I cried. "We can't just not try!"

"So then we follow them," Jacob interjected. He turned to Ana. "You say you know the aliases they're traveling under. So, we figure out when their planes land and meet them at the gates."

"Again," Ana said, "stupid." Jacob looked at her as if challenging her to explain what could possibly be wrong with his idea. "Your plan has two flaws," Ana continued, unruffled by Jacob's anger. "First flaw is that the plan involves you," she pointed to Jacob with a sarcastic sneer. "Second, the tickets they booked had to be fakes: giving us enough information to allow us to follow, but not enough to pinpoint arrival times—I'm sure in order to prevent exactly what you suggested."

"But if that's true," Jasper said, "they may not even be headed to New York or Houston."

"I don't think so," Ana countered. "Remember their objective: to split your forces, gather their own reinforcements, and destroy you before leaving the states." Ana paused and then glanced at Will. "After what happened in the woods, Demetri probably guessed I would help the Cullens, so he left clues that I would pick up on—like the aliases."

"Then what do we do?" Edward asked.

"Well," Ana answered. "Since you insist on going after Renesme, I say that we split up and follow them."

"Wouldn't that be doing exactly what they wanted?" Emmett pointed out. "We'd be walking right into their trap."

"We don't have another option," Ana rebuffed. "We follow them to New York and Texas, and try and find them and Renesme before they find us. We'll also need to find them and stop them before they head back to Italy as their alternative."

"Why?" I asked, sensing the finality in her tone.

"Because," she said, "if they haven't killed your daughter already, once they get back to Italy they will—she having served her purpose. Plus, we'll be facing the Volturi guard, and we'll be severely outnumbered. We have a better chance here; I have access to a few reinforcements of my own."

"How do we know that you're telling the truth?" Rosalie asked loudly. "How do we know you'll help us and not double-cross us?" Her words hung in the air, and all eyes focused on her expression: skeptical and defiant. I agreed with Rosalie, but I was too numb to argue; though my subconscious told me that I should.

"You don't," Ana answered flatly.

"For all we know, you could be leading us into the very trap that you speak of," Rosalie pressed. "Why should we accept your help?"

Ana's smile grew larger. "Because I am your only hope of getting Renesme back alive. You see…well, you see, you have no other alternative." She finished with a grin. I flashed back to what she had told us about Aro's mind games. It seemed the apple didn't fall far from the tree; like father, like daughter.


	12. Chapter 11: The Plan

**Chapter Eleven: The Plan**

"Will," Ana said, "get three tickets each to Kennedy and Houston airports." After she said this, she turned her attention to the rest of us. "Edward and Jasper will come with me to New York. Bella and Emmett will go with Will to Houston."

"And what are the rest of us supposed to do?" Jacob asked. "Sit at home and knit?"

"You'll need as many of you here as possible just in case Demetri doubles back," Ana answered matter-of-factly.

"Or, you just don't want any wolves around," Jacob spat. "I remember how nervous the Volturi were when they got a look at our pack last year."

"Is that all you do: shoot your mouth off?" Ana sounded angry. "How about you shut your toothy trap and let the professional handle this." She glared at Jacob. "To tell you the truth, you're right. I don't want you along. Our only hope for success is subtle strategy, and your half-cocked attitude is exactly what could get Renesme killed—or do you even care what happens to her?"

"Ana!" I began angrily. I wasn't going to let her talk to Jacob like that.

"Bella!" Ana shouted in response before I could continue. "I don't expect you to see my logic in this," she said. "Maybe that's because you still, secretly, want to jump him. So let me put this another way: you want my help, we do things my way."

Where did she get off saying things like that? Before I could tell her where to get off instead, Carlisle spoke. "We do trust you," he said to Ana, though his voice was wary. "We do appreciate your help." And we didn't have much choice but to accept her help; though, it didn't stop the nagging feeling that this help would come at a terrible price. What did they say about making deals with the devil? That it was never a good idea.

Ana turned to Will and nodded a "go ahead." He immediately excused himself to another corner of the room and opened his cell phone. It sounded like he was talking to the airline companies. After a few minutes, Will rejoined our group. "The soonest they could give us was tomorrow morning," he said. "The flights will be a few hours each so, with the time change, we should get to our destinations by tomorrow evening."

"That's not soon enough," I protested. "We can't possibly wait almost a whole day."

"Actually," Ana said quite calmly, "this works out fine. It will give me some time to contact some friends of mine beforehand who should be able to help us."

"Are these friends you can trust?" asked Carlisle.

"Of course," Ana confirmed. "Now, if you'll excuse me," she smiled, "I have to make a few calls."

"It's probably time to switch phones," Will said to Ana.

"You're right," Ana answered. With that, she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and exchanged it with another that Will gave her.

"We keep a supply of prepaid cell phones," Will explained to the rest of us. "They're harder to trace."

Ana seemed to disappear, while the rest of us, including Will, went to sit in the living room. I sat on the couch next to Edward, his hand in mine for comfort, lost in my thoughts. I kept trying to tell myself that Renesme was okay and that we would get to her in time. Alice's question broke through my reverie.

"How did you meet Ana?" she asked Will.

Will looked up from his new cell phone and laughed lightly. He seemed completely different from Ana; she was harsh and haughty, whereas Will was friendly. Something in his eyes encouraged you to smile and laugh along with him. He seemed genuinely trustworthy. "No that's quite the story," he said fondly. He glanced around the room at all of us and then at Alice, who seemed interested. "Well," he began, "I was a professor of anthropology and cultural mythology. That was three years ago. I taught at Stanford University."

"Stanford?" Carlisle wondered.

"Yes," Will confirmed. "I was an academic. Though, as much as I enjoyed the scholar's life, I got burned out eventually. Teaching is rough work. So, I decided to take some time off." Will told his story with a smile on his face. "While on my sabbatical, I traveled," he continued. "I went to places that I'd always wanted to visit. One of those places was also of an academic interest to me, with its rich mythology: Volterra."

"Volterra?" I perked up at the mention of Aro's "hometown."

"Of course," Will answered as he grinned. "The lore surrounding Volterra is classic." He paused, seeming to think, and chuckled at his thoughts. "You know," he said, "I never really believed vampires were real, though I discussed each culture's adaptation of the myths with my students. But still, how could I pass up the opportunity to visit a place dense with cultural history? So, I went to visit the castle. And I got the special tour." He stopped.

Special tour? What could he be talking about, if not the…? "They took you into the main room in the tower?" I asked out loud, incredulously. Will nodded and my stomach dropped.

I remembered being a witness to the "special tour." It had been a few years ago, when I had first met the Volturi. Edward had gone to Italy because he thought that I was dead. We had been taken to the main room, and then released after Aro had had some fun at our expense. As we left the main chamber, where the Volturi sat on their thrones, a group of unsuspecting humans had been ushered in. The Volturi had planned to kill and feed on them. A vivid picture came back to my mind from that day: one of an older woman clutching her rosary, looking petrified—like she knew what was coming.

"The Volturi were going to kill you," I finally said to Will.

"I didn't know I was in for such a treat," Will answered simply with a sly smile.

"That's horrible," I breathed.

"That's what I thought at the time too," Will continued. "But, when it was my turn, I told them that if they killed me, I'd come back as a Japanese Yurei to avenge my own death. I think my chanting made them think twice."

"You were singing the Stanford fight song," Ana said. She seemed to have appeared, silently, out of nowhere.

"Hey, whose story is this?" Will feigned hurt, but when he looked up at Ana, he smiled. She smiled back as they exchanged a look; what was it? Fondness? Love? I couldn't see how someone like Ana could love, or how anyone could love her. Will continued, "Did you get a hold of Henry and…?"

"Yes," Ana cut him off, as if she didn't want him to say names. But why?

"Anyway," Will said as he turned back to us, "the Volturi stopped; they didn't kill me," he said. "You see, Ana was there. She was smitten with me," he said as he seemed to puff out his chest feathers.

"I asked Aro to save him for me," Ana finished. "I can't change anyone because I'm only half vampire, so I asked my father to change Will for me."

"How fortunate for you," Jacob said to Will, though his sarcasm was directed at Ana. "Or maybe she was just already full."

"Oh no," Will interrupted, "Ana doesn't…"

"I don't drink the blood of live humans," Ana finished. "Neither does Will. We get our blood from hospitals and blood banks. Of course, that doesn't mean my father doesn't make me watch his dining habits; he doesn't think I have a healthy enough appetite."

"I feel so much better," Jacob said with more sarcasm.

Ana zeroed in on Jacob with a look and a sneer. "Though I make an exception when I'm on a job," she continued. "There's no point in being wasteful. Like that girl in the woods for example."

Jacob tensed and Edward's hand tightened on mine, else I would have jumped up. How could she be so unfeeling about human life? How could she call it a "job" and then treat killing innocent life like some sort of hobby? Hey Daddy-o, let's go hunting this weekend. We can tie our kill to the roof of the truck and maybe even keep the head as a trophy!

"You look stressed," Ana told me as I played out the scenario in my head. I glared at her in return.

"Ana actually went to Stanford," Will said in an effort to change the subject. "Though it was before my time of course."

"I went to a lot of universities," Ana added. "And each time, I majored in music." She smiled. "I am Italian after all." She looked at Edward. "We should do a duet some time," she said to him. "You could play the piano and I could sing." She walked over to the piano, sat down, and started to play a melody softly while she hummed along. She sounded beautiful—I had to admit to myself grudgingly—like a dark angel. "Come on Edward," she pushed.

Will was suddenly at the piano bench, sitting beside Ana. He started to play—or, I should say, tried to play—"Over the Rainbow." He grinned at Ana. "Aren't you going to sing honey?" he asked. They exchanged a look, and I thought I saw Ana roll her eyes.

It was quiet for a moment before Emmett broke in. "So what else is the Volturi up to these days besides trying to kill us?"

"There was this author they were worried about," Will volunteered off-handedly when he stopped plunking at the piano keys. "Stephenie Mayor or something."

"Stephenie Meyer," Ana corrected. "She got frighteningly close to the truth in some of her books."

"The Volturi were going to get rid of her," Will added.

"Did they?" I asked incredulously. I couldn't bear it if that poor woman had been killed just because she had written some books.

"No," Ana told me. "There weren't many fans anyway, except for a small cult-like following. And the Volturi had their hands full with other, more important things." She smiled. "Meaning, all of you." I swallowed hard.

"You should go lie down," she continued. "I'm sure Edward could help you with the stress," she said with a smirk. Edward's hand couldn't stop me now; I stood up fast to face Ana. "I mean it," Ana said to me, unfazed by my sudden movement. "You're probably not going to see Eddie for awhile since he'll be coming with me to New York."

I was fuming. "If I didn't need your help," I spat, "I wouldn't…"

"You wouldn't what?" Ana interrupted. "Invite me to tea?"

"When this is over," I gritted my teeth, "you stay away from my family and friends. You're nothing but a selfish and disgusting half-breed."

Ana just smiled at this, much to my frustration. "Remind me to let you know when the hurt from that comment sets in," she said sarcastically. "Though we'll probably both be long dead by then."

"Enough," Will said calmly, but firmly, much to my surprise. "We have things to do before we leave."

Ana took her eyes off me focused on Will. "You'll need to get us a car," she said to him.

"I'm on it," Will answered. "How long has it been since you slept?" he added.

Ana looked annoyed at Will. "I'm fine," she said.

"Forgive me Ana," Carlisle cut in. "I didn't think you needed to sleep. I have plenty of beds to offer."

"I'm fine Carlisle," she said. "Thank you."

"She's like my students were," Will told Carlisle. "She pulls her own kind of 'all-nighters'; she just has more of a capability to do it because she's half vampire."

"We'll also need blood," Ana said to Will abruptly.

"I suppose I could…" Carlisle began uncertainly.

"Don't be silly Carlisle," Ana said. "I wouldn't want you to compromise yourself. I'm perfectly capable of breaking into the hospital on my own." With that, Ana turned and left the room, on her way out.

"You all really should rest," Will said to us. "Tomorrow's going to be a rough day." Then he turned and left as well.

Little did I know just how rough tomorrow was going to be. The thought that my family would never be the same again, was what stuck in my head for the rest of the night. I laid in Edward's arms, willing the morning to come.


	13. BOOK TWO Anastasia: Preface

**Book Two: Anastasia**

'Tis Now the very witching time of night,

When churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out

Contagion to this world: now could I drink hot blood,

And do such bitter business, as the day

Would quake to look on.

_Hamlet: _Hamlet, Act III, scene ii

**Preface** _Volterra, Italy: A long time ago_

She stood on a towering wall overlooking the Tuscan countryside. Though she appeared to be twelve years old, she hadn't yet been on the earth a decade. Her hair hung in angel-blond ringlets that fell over her white dress. Her blue eyes, flecked with red, watched as Demetri and her father came out to join her. Demetri was leaving.

"Papá," Anastasia called to Aro.

"Yes cariña," Aro said to his daughter, meaning "loved one" in the language of her mother.

"Where is Demetri going?" she wondered.

Aro smiled. "Demetri is taking care of something for your papá," he said.

"What sort of something?" she asked precociously.

Aro's smile widened, though his tone was serious as he answered. "Demetri is doing something that will protect us," he told her. "We have peace and order as vampires because of it." Ana watched longingly as Demetri made his preparations to go.

Aro placed his hand on top of her head, and her thoughts filled his mind. Then Aro bent down on one knee and put his arms around the girl. "You will get to go along soon cariña," he said as her eyes looked into his. "Once you are grown, you will get to do things for me." He brushed a blond curl out of her face and then continued. "And when you are grown, my Anastasia, you will be far more powerful than Demetri or anyone else I know."

Ana's face lit up at that prospect. She was eager for that power; eager to be a part of something good and necessary. When she was grown, she would make her father proud.


	14. Chapter 1: Empire State of Mind

**Chapter One: Empire State of Mind**

I looked over the Chevy suburban that Will had probably "borrowed" from a parking lot, or someone's driveway, last night. It would certainly hold all of our luggage, but I still hated American cars. For a country that was the best at just about everything, they definitely weren't the leader where automobiles were concerned.

The sun was just rising. It would take us a couple of hours to drive to Seattle. I watched as the Cullens exchanged goodbyes in the driveway. Bella and Jacob looked awkward as they wished each other well, and parted. No doubt, my comment last night about Bella wanting to jump Jacob had left the air between them uncomfortably thick. That was fine with me; someone had to say something about it.

I got into the driver seat after the Cullens got in. Will sat shotgun.

"You should turn your headlights on," Will told me as I was about to pull out. "I know you don't need them," he continued, "but we don't want to attract attention."

I searched the console for the headlights. Where were the damn headlights anyway? Finally, I found them and switched them on. "I hate American cars," I muttered.

"We're not in Italy anymore Dorothy," Will said with a smile. That was for sure. Though, the other thing I was sure about was that we'd all be in Italy before the end of the week.

The Cullens were too optimistic, which was unfortunate for them.

We made it to the Seatac airport and parted ways at the security checkpoint. "I'll miss you," Will told me as he cupped my face in his hands and kissed me lightly. I looked up into his glittering red eyes. I really did love William Luckey. He certainly was not the kind of man my father would have wanted me to be with; so, to this day, I'm not sure why Aro kept him for me—though the motive had to have been a selfish one. Aro never did anything for anyone else.

"I'll miss you too," I said to Will.

"Don't run off with Richie while I'm gone," he said playfully.

"Don't be silly," I said back. Then I turned serious, "Stick to the plan, okay?"

"Will do," he assured me.

After one last kiss, we parted and I led Edward and Jasper to our departure gate. We boarded the plane and settled into our seats in first class. I glanced at Edward, who was sitting to my right, looking out the small window at the hustle and bustle below. He looked preoccupied and anxious; I'm sure he was worried about his daughter and his wife. And I knew it was only going to get worse.

"What's our first move when we get to New York?" Jasper asked me from across the aisle, after the plane had reached its cruising altitude.

"We meet up with a friend of mine," I said as the stewardess placed the so-called "Italian" lasagna on my tray.

Edward had turned from the window to face me. "Who is this friend of yours?" he inquired.

"His name is Richie Moretti," I answered. "He's a vampire, and he has connections, so he'll be able to keep us under the radar while we stay with him."

"What do you mean by 'connections'?" Jasper asked.

I smiled to myself as I thought about how far back Richie and I went. "Have you heard of the Italian Mafia?" I asked Jasper and Edward both. "Of the Five Pointers Gang, more specifically?"

"Sure," Jasper answered.

"Did you know that the Italian Mafia had connections to the Volturi?" I asked.

"Are you serious?" Edward wondered.

"Let me give you a little background," I replied. "You've probably heard of Paolo Vaccarelli; also know in the States as Paul Kelly. He was a member of the Volturi guard way back when; but he eventually became disenchanted with the job. He got tired of doing someone else's bidding and decided to start his own empire of sorts in a somewhat virginal land."

"America," Edward offered.

"Exactly," I confirmed. "He took a hop across the pond and settled in New York along with other immigrants looking for the American Dream."

"But Vaccarelli died and the Five Pointers Gang is extinct," Jasper said.

"Maybe to the first one, and no to the second," I said. "Vaccarelli supposedly died in 1936."

"What does that mean?" Jasper asked.

"It means that there were a lot of attempts made to kill Vaccarelli, but it's unclear if any of them worked," I clarified. "It's widely known that he dodged a good number of bullets. Of course, no one knew the real reason that he was able to survive was because he was a vampire. However, people started to get suspicious as he miraculously survived every time." I shrugged. "I suppose it's possible that he really did die in 1936; or he could have simply gone into hiding. As for the Five Points Gang, they're not extinct, just underground."

"So Al Capone and the rest of them were vampires too?" Jasper asked with a hint of mirth in his tone.

"No, they weren't," I answered. "The Italian Mafia is composed of three different kinds of people, just like the rest of the world: there are vampires, those who know about vampires, and those who don't." I turned to Edward. "I'm sure you remember your visit to Volterra," I told him, "and who the Volturi keep as office staff. They keep humans: humans who are counting on the promise of immortality in exchange for their loyalty. I'm guessing Al Capone knew of our kind, though he wasn't a vampire. There are also plenty of innocents who never knew vampires existed at all."

"Sure gives new meaning to 'Gangs of New York,'" Jasper commented.

"Richie is Italian Mafia," I continued and then smiled. "Richie and I go way back. We met when we were both attending Columbia University years ago."

"So we're staying with him?" Edward inquired of me.

"Yes," I replied. "He's one of the few people that I trust implicitly."

"That's comforting," Jasper said with sarcasm.

"It should be," I retorted.

"Next you're going to tell us that Dracula was a real vampire too," Jasper looked sideways at me from across the aisle.

"Actually," I replied, "Dracula wasn't a vampire. He was just a sick and twisted human." I took a sip of the pinot that had also been placed on my tray. "Eventually," I continued, "the Volturi got rid of him; he became too much of a PR problem."

"Be sure to pass along my gratitude for the Volturi's vigilance," Jasper said sarcastically.

I turned my head to look at him square in the eye. "You should be grateful to the Volturi," I countered. "It's because of them that you can live your life freely."

"The Volturi have been nothing but a pain in my side," Jasper drew out the words.

"You shouldn't soon forget that it was the Volturi who bailed you out of a perilous situation with a certain vengeful, rogue vampire named Victoria," I pointed out.

"Well, thank goodness we saw eye to eye on that one," Jasper said. "The Volturi only get involved with anything that benefits them. They are power-hungry, not peace-keepers."

"The Volturi are necessary," I retorted. "Without them, there would be chaos." I leaned forward in my chair to get a little closer to Jasper. "Having the vampire world rule themselves would be like making the inmates of Guantanamo Bay your law-making congressmen—not a pretty picture. Not every group of vampires is as 'controlled' and peaceful as your little coven of vegetarians," I finished snidely.

"Though they say that absolute power can corrupt absolutely," Edward added. The sudden sound of his voice made me turn around in my seat to face him.

I held his gaze and said, "It takes a heavy hand to rule an already corrupt species."

Then, without saying anything else, I leaned back into the semi-comfortable chair, with my "lasagna" barely touched. I really could have gone for a stiff drink about then: a bag of AB positive, or a glass of vodka.

I must have dozed off, because I awoke to Edward's gentle shaking of my shoulder with his hand. "We're here," he told me. Similar I'm sure to Renesme: when I fell asleep, I was dead to the world.

We deplaned and collected our luggage. One man in a business suit offered, unnecessarily, to help lift my luggage off of the conveyor. I allowed him to make a fool of himself—wincing under the weight of my suitcase—that I could have easily lifted with my little finger.

I smiled sarcastically and thanked him insincerely, as he looked me up and down—which he thought went unnoticed by me. It was too bad that I had places to be and things to do; he looked pretty tasty, and I'd finish him off just for that once-over he had given me.

Outside, the rental car was waiting just as planned. Finally, something I could enjoy driving. We loaded up into the black, four-door, Ferrari 612 Seaglietti, drove out of the airport, and into a vampire's paradise: the city that never sleeps.


	15. Chapter 2: Money For Nothing

**Chapter Two: Money For Nothing**

The city's skyline was breath-taking. The millions of lights made the dark evening brighter as the sun went down. I felt the most comfortable in big cities; they were dirty, dangerous, and dazzling.

The sun had set by the time we arrived at Richie's building. We approached the opulent entryway, which the doorman held open for us. "It's good to see you Miss Anastasia," he said as we walked past.

"You too Don," I replied.

We made our way to the private elevator and got on. I depressed the button marked "P." "So Richie lives in the penthouse," Jasper commented.

"Of course," I replied. Richie Moretti would have nothing less than the very best; he made sure to have the best apartment, the best cars, the best shows, the best friends, and the best women.

After ascending twenty floors, the elevator opened up to reveal a large foyer. At the opposite end of the grand room were a set of double doors, marked number "2001." I rang the bell. Richie was as enthusiastic as always when he opened the door and saw me. "Anastasia!" he exclaimed, then gave me a warm hug. He ushered us in and I took in the familiar surroundings.

Off of the grand entryway, and to one side, were the dining, study, and living rooms. Straight ahead was the kitchen, and off to the other side were the bedrooms. One of these was a master suite, while the other three bedrooms peppered the rest of the space. The entire apartment was decorated expensively in a New York club style, with dark woods and espresso-colored leathers. The knick-knacks were tasteful, and the artwork I knew cost more than the apartment itself. Large floor-to-ceiling windows gave a spectacular view of Central Park. Like I said: only the best.

"It's been too long," Richie was saying. "I guess Daddy's had you putting in overtime. I don't really blame you for going AWOL." Richie looked the same as he always had: tall, dark, handsome, and Italian. He reminded me a lot of today's Ray Liotta.

"It has been a while," I answered. Richie took us into the living room where I made the introductions. "Richie," I said, "These are the Cullens: Edward and Jasper."

"Ah yes," Richie said, looking them over. "The country hicks from Nowheresville, Washington." He laughed with a friendly smile. "Tell me: who's feeding the chickens while you field hands are visiting my city?" He laughed again.

"Be nice Richie," I said with a smile.

"Alright, alright," he conceded. "But listen—I know Ana likes to stay in while she's hot on a mission, but I'm going out this evening, and you fellas should join me."

"I don't think they'd enjoy a night on the town in your style," I told him.

"What guy wouldn't enjoy beautiful women and a 'bite' to eat?" Richie laughed.

"They don't drink human blood," I clarified.

"Right. Vegetarians—Ana mentioned that before," he said. "Too bad."

"You just go out and hunt in the city?" Jasper asked incredulously. "Doesn't that attract attention from other humans, not to mention the Volturi as well?"

"We do things differently here in the city as opposed to Bumkinsville," Richie answered. "It takes discipline and practice, but you don't have to kill someone to feed off of them." He smiled. "Some girls give it to you willingly; I don't know—maybe they think it's sexy. And as for the others, they think you're just being rough," he said with a bounce of his eyebrows. "Though, if you really want the whole thing, you can just simply find a prostitute off the street that nobody will miss. Why do you think there are so many unsolved murders in this town?"

A look of disgust came over Jasper's face. I, personally, did not begrudge Richie his lifestyle. Most sophisticated vampires fed like he did. Humans ate chicken and beef, and vampires ate humans; it's just how the food chain worked.

"Well, in that case," Richie continued, "I hit the Red Cross for you Ana. The bags are on the top shelf in the second fridge."

"Thanks Richie," I said.

"I also took the liberty of getting something else of your favorite: dark chocolate and raspberry gelato. It's in the freezer."

"Thanks," I said again, "but you know I can't stand American gelato."

"I promise this stuff is the real thing," Richie replied. "I found this little hole-in-the-wall a couple blocks down. The guy who owns it is only third generation American born." Then he looked at Edward and Jasper. "I also ran by a slaughter house in Jersey for some animal blood for the both of you," he said. "It's not as fresh as I'm sure you're used to, but it's USDA choice anyway." He smiled at his own joke.

"That was very thoughtful," Edward told him. "Thank you. And thank you also for helping us." Richie nodded and smiled in acknowledgment.

"They didn't ask you any questions at the slaughter house?" Jasper wondered.

"I'm sure the wad of cash I placed in the guy's hand answered all the questions he may have had," Richie replied. "One thing you learn in this business is that anything can be bought for the right price." He winked at me. "Well, I'm off," Richie announced. "Don't wait up for me kids!" With that, he kissed my cheek, grabbed a coat—for fashion's sake—and walked out the door.

"What do we do now?" Edward asked me.

"Now," I said, "I cuddle up in my PJs with my carton of gelato, and you two can do whatever you like."

"We're not going to look for Renesme?" Edward asked sharply.

"We see Henri tomorrow," was my answer.

"And who's Henri?" Jasper asked.

"Henri is the one who will give us a lead as to where Demetri or Trevor may be hiding," I answered.

"So we're just going to wait?" Jasper asked incredulously.

"We can't very well go traipsing around New York, with millions of people, hoping to sniff them out," I retorted. "We need intel. I got a text from Henri when we arrived that it's going to take a little longer to get it."

"Your friend Richie can't help us?" Edward asked.

"The Mafia isn't going to get involved with Volturi business," I explained.

"It seems like he already is," Jasper said.

"He's involved in my business," I told him. "He's my friend, not the Volturi's. He's good for a bed and some gelato." I looked over their two concerned faces. "Relax," I told them. "Demetri's plan is to end this here; he's not going to hop a plane to Italy yet. Plus, it's to our benefit if we find him without him knowing, so we catch him by surprise." I gestured towards the kitchen. "You two should drink up and rest. We'll be facing the Volturi soon enough, and you need to be in top shape."

I left the pair in the living room and wheeled my luggage into one of the guest bedrooms. It was decorated like the rest of the place—meaning everything was top of the line. A fifty-two inch LCD TV was hung on the wall like a piece of art.

I pulled my designer flannel pajamas out of my Louis Vuitton suitcase and put them on. I headed into the kitchen next. Jasper was drinking blood from a bottle and flipping through stations on the TV that was on the counter. I said nothing to him, but opened the freezer and pulled out the large carton of gelato. I grabbed a spoon, took the whole thing with me, and left.

While in the hallway, I could see Edward in the study, sitting in one of the leather armchairs. I entered and sat on the couch opposite him. He too had a bottle of blood; though it sat on the end table next to him, untouched. I opened the carton of gelato and began eating. Richie had done well; this stuff was pretty good. Being only half-vampire, I needed and enjoyed consuming blood, but I also enjoyed eating human food; of course, no calorie ever touched me.

"We'll find Renesme—don't worry," I told Edward between spoonfuls. He gave me a weak smile.

We sat in silence for a minute; I looked at him as he stared, unseeingly, at a Giorgio Morandi on the wall—which, I'm pretty sure, the artist gave to Richie personally. Edward was good-looking, in a good-boy sort of way. He was intelligent and had a quick wit too. His hair was dark; like I preferred. His eyes were golden; they were similar to Will's hazel eyes before he was changed, and yet not. Strong hands. Nice lips.

"You're too easy on her you know," I said to him.

Edward broke out of his trance at the sound of my voice. "What?" he asked.

"Bella," I replied. "You're too easy on Bella."

"What do you mean?" he asked me.

I smiled and put down my gelato. "I mean," I explained, "that you should kiss me passionately." Edward's eyebrows went up. "That's right," I continued. "You should kiss me—even enjoy it—and then declare your undying love for Bella anyway." Edward continued to eye me, confused. "I mean like what Bella did with Jacob," I said.

Edward's expression turned pained and reflective; my words had affected him. "I've done things," he finally said. "I've done things that deserve far worse. I don't blame her."

"You're talking about when you left her," I clarified and he nodded in response. I took another bite of gelato and thought back. "You know," I finally said, "there's something I should tell you."

"What's that?" he asked.

"The Volturi, when it comes to anyone other than themselves, don't like it when vampires take humans into their confidence," I began, "like you and Bella a few years ago." Edward had a sad look in his eyes as he listened to me. "To put it mildly, the Volturi weren't happy about Bella Swan getting so close to your family." I paused before going on to the next part. "They were so unhappy about it, in fact, that they put a price on her head."

"They wanted her killed?" Edward asked breathlessly.

I nodded the affirmative and continued. "The reason that I'm telling you this is because when you left her," I emphasized the words, "you saved her life. You backed off from Bella and the Volturi lost interest." I looked into Edward's pained eyes. "If you hadn't left Bella, things would have turned out very differently for her and the rest of your family. So, you should stop blaming yourself," I finished.

Edward seemed to ponder what I had said. "Thank you for telling me," he said.

"Don't mention it," I said, getting up off of the couch. I gestured to the bottle of animal blood. "You should drink that. We've got a full day tomorrow."

He obeyed by taking a sip as I headed for the door. "Ana," he called, and I stopped to turn around and look at him. "Why are you helping us?" he asked.

"I have my reasons," I said easily, and then left. I climbed into the comfortable bed, in between the trillion-count sheets, and listened to the sounds from outside. The car horns, police sirens, and shouting were like a lullaby to me, and I fell asleep quickly.


	16. Chapter 3: Carry On Wayward Son

**Chapter Three: Carry On Wayward Son**

An exclamation of "Good morning sunshine!" awoke me the next morning, and was followed by a damp kiss on the mouth. I sat up to find Richie sitting on the edge of my bed. "That was a little too wet," I told him. "I'm engaged now, you know."

"Oh , that's right," he said. "You're in-gagged now. So what's this straight got that I haven't?"

"He comes home at a decent hour," I said with a smile. One might think Richie and I once had a "thing"; and they would be right. It had been a mutual break-up. Richie was a good, decent, and loyal friend, but he wasn't the commitment type.

"Decent hours are overrated," he replied. Then he held up some car keys. "I returned the rental," he said. "These are the keys to mine."

"Thanks," I replied as I took the keys. Just in case someone had seen us get into that car, we would switch out what we drove. I knew from experience of being on the "other side," that there would be a handful of spies trying to keep tabs on us and reporting back to Demetri. Though, anyone who ran the plates on Richie's car would be led completely away from him; this being one of the Mafia perks.

I ushered Richie out the door and got dressed in a leather jacket and dark blue jeans. In the living room, after a brief exchange of "good mornings," I led Edward and Jasper down to the private area of the underground garage. The keys Richie had given me were to his Maserati Quattroporte. The windows were tinted limo-dark for daytime driving convenience. I noticed Edward and Jasper looking at Richie's other car: a Maserati GranCabrio convertible. They also saw the motorcycle: a black Ducati.

"Richie rides motorcycles?" Edward asked.

"Actually," I said, "the bike is mine. Richie keeps it for me for when I come to visit. I find it makes driving through the crowded city easier."

"It's yours?" Edward wondered.

"Yep," I answered. "Just look at the license plate," I told him. It read "VLTR."

"Cute," Jasper commented, snidely.

We got into the car and pulled out of the garage. Traffic was slow, as usual, though I was still able to weave my way through easily. "We'll see Henri in her office," I told them.

"Her?" Jasper inquired from the backseat.

"Yes," I replied. "Henri is short for Henrietta."

"You never said she was a she," Jasper said.

"I never said she wasn't," I retorted. "You two should get along quite well," I told Jasper. "She's a southern belle of sorts." I saw Jasper's questioning look in the rearview mirror, so I continued. "Henri was the daughter of a very wealthy cotton-farming family in the South, at the time of the Civil War," I explained. "That was back when she was still human. Then the South lost the war, and the soldiers came through to pillage. At that time, there were a lot of vampires who impersonated soldiers on both sides. It was an easy meal: to chew on your comrade after he fell down dead next to you."

"Anyway," I continued. "One of those soldiers who came through the South was a vampire, and he stole Henrietta's heart. To make a long story short, he changed her into a vampire and then promptly cheated on her. Now, Henri is the CEO of her own textiles company here in Manhattan."

"What happened to the vampire soldier?" Jasper asked.

I smiled ruefully. "He's long since dead," I told him. "Henri made sure of that."

We continued to drive until we arrived at the grand office building. "How does a vampire work in there?" Edward wondered as he looked up at the skyscraper. I chuckled. This wasn't the sort of building one would expect a vampire to be comfortable in. I too looked up at the familiar building, which was entirely made out of glass.

"She's got a protective film on the inside of the windows," I explained. "That keeps her inconspicuous to her human employees, but still lets in the light. Henri loves the sun."

I pulled into the below-ground parking garage and then took Edward and Jasper into the building. The lobby was chic, and contemporarily decorated. We approached the massive, semi-circular desk and I regarded the receptionist with a smile. "My name is Anastasia," I said. "I have an appointment with Ms. Hamilton."

"She's expecting you," the young woman said without looking at her computer.

We took the elevator to the top floor. Henri's executive assistant waved us into her office. When we entered the large space, I saw my friend, Henrietta Hamilton. She was tall and thin, with slender hips and a flat bust line. Her reddish-brown hair fell pin-straight to her shoulder blades, and she wore a pencil skirt and suit jacket. She was "killer" on the side streets, as well as on Wall Street; she was a vampire to be reckoned with. Her smile for me was friendly and warm, but her body-language was all business. I introduced her to the two men that were with me.

"So these are the Cullens," Henri said in her confident, high-bred voice. "There's a buzz amongst the vampire community about your family these days." Her eyes were unwavering, like the New York, corporate goddess she was.

"Henri is the one with her ear to the ground when it comes to our community," I told them, referring to vampires.

"You have no idea of the shockwave your little insurrection last year sent through the air," Henri said to Jasper and Edward, as she continued to look at them. "No wonder the Volturi have it out for you." She then focused her attention on Jasper. "And I hear you and I are contemporaries," she said to him.

Jasper smiled politely. "I see you've kept up the family business," he said.

"I'm still doing well despite those damned Yankees," she said with a smile.

Henri then walked over to her desk, picked up a large envelope, and placed it in my hands. "Here's the information you needed, Ana," she said. Henri gave me the information as a hard copy, since electronic transmissions were so easy to trace. "I've heard from a good source that Demetri is the one here in New York," Henri continued. "And he has a young girl with him—most likely your target."

"Renesme," Edward breathed. Henri nodded as she glanced at him.

"In there," she continued, indicating the envelope, "is information on the whereabouts of Demetri's human contact who's helping him here. It will tell you where he'll be tonight."

"Thanks Henri," I said.

"You're welcome," she replied. "There's also info on another lead you wanted to follow as well." We then bid goodbye as Henrietta returned to her desk.

Edward, Jasper, and I got back into the car. By tonight, we would know where Demetri was hiding.


	17. Chapter 4: Good Boys

**Chapter Four: Good Boys**

Back at Richie's apartment, I put on the outfit that I had chosen for tonight: black pants, knee-high black boots, and a black, backless and billowy halter top. I left my bedroom and joined Jasper and Edward in the living room. The both of them had also "snazzed up" their drab looks for this evening's outing.

"We'll go to the club separately," I told them. "That way, no one will see us together."

"And, we're going to this club because Demetri's contact is going to be there," Jasper clarified.

"Exactly," I confirmed. The Volturri always offered some sort of payment when a human or a vampire helped them; something like money, immortality, or something else that the Volturri deemed appropriate.

"This guy," Jasper continued, "sets up Demetri in New York, and he asks for a ticket to a new nightclub?"

"Humans are very one-dimensional," I said. "He's probably hoping for a little excitement, which works to our advantage." I bent at the waist to tuck a cell phone in my boot. Jasper's eyes escaped to the ceiling. Edward's, on the other hand, remained coolly fixed on mine as I straightened and smiled.

"Aren't you going to get cold?" Edward asked, as he gestured to my barely-there outfit, without a hint of unease. This one was hard to crack.

"I may look human," I said, "but I'm just as cold-blooded as you are." I winked at him.

"Speaking of which," Jasper's eyes now found mine again as he spoke, "This guy knows vampires. Once he spots us, he's going to run."

"That's why you two will be hanging back, while I find him," I explained.

"Oh," Jasper said as he understood.

"You're beginning to see why I'm so valuable to the Volturi," I said.

"How are you going to find him?" Edward asked. "You don't know what he looks like."

"It won't be hard," I answered. "Trust me," I said as I smirked, "I do this for a living."

Edward and Jasper took Richie's convertible, while I hopped onto my bike. The night air felt amazing as I zipped down the streets of Manhattan; it was charged with excitement and possibility.

When I arrived at the club, I parked my bike in the alley behind the building, and then circled around to the front. The guard at the door gave me a once-over as he checked my ticket and let me through. After I entered the club, I spotted Jasper and Edward standing near the bar, where I had told them to wait. I looked at Edward and let him hear me as I thought, "Have some fun Eddie. Get a drink. Meet some girls." I caught the sarcastic smile at the corner of his mouth. I had to hand it to Bella; as much as I didn't like her, she had found herself a dedicated guy.

I turned my attention to the human partiers and scanned the dance floor and the surrounding tables. The music was loud, but the pounding of each individual heartbeat rose above the din. One man approached me. "Hey honey, let's dance," he said.

I looked at him with an intense gaze and said, "I don't think so." He seemed unnerved by my stare and scurried away quickly. I then returned to my purpose; if I were a loner, turned vampire's minion, turned even bigger loner, where would I be? Then I spotted him.

About five meters in front of me and a little to the left, sat a twenty-something boy, alone at a table, looking disappointed. Obviously, this wasn't the night he had expected. But, oops, no refunds or exchanges with the Volturi. Though, I thought I could make his night a little better, or at least make him think so.

I sat down across from him. "Hi there," I said in a soft and slow voice.

His demeanor changed instantly as he shamelessly studied his sudden stroke of good fortune. He smiled back and attempted to appear cool and in control—like he owned the place. "Buy you a drink?" he asked me. You don't even know my name yet, you dweeb, I thought to myself. He was making this far too easy; I already had him hook, line and sinker. But, moving fast worked for me; I was pressed for time anyway.

I maintained my sultry expression and said, "I saw you from across the room." I laughed inwardly as I noticed that he couldn't stop a grin from touching his face. "I was thinking that I'd like to get to know you." He continued to try to appear macho and coolly in control. If men only knew how easy their psychology was to hack! "My ride's out back," I told him. He didn't argue.

I got up and made my way to the back door with him following behind me like a golden retriever. I led him into the alleyway behind the club. He spied my motorcycle. "Is this your ride?" he asked. I nodded and he grinned. "Hey," he said, "I like your style…"

I had him by the throat with his back against the brick wall before he could finish. "Holy sh…" I squeezed his neck in my hand tighter. "Damn," he swore, "Demetri told me to…"

"Demetri told you to watch out for a beautiful blond that looks human," I finished for him and chuckled. "You predictable idiot." I put my mouth to his ear and he flinched. "You'll think a little more with your head from now on," I whispered.

"You rang?" came Jasper's voice as he and Edward joined me in the alleyway. I had signaled Edward with my thoughts to meet me out here.

"Come join the party," I told them, and then turned my attention back to the worm that I had pinned up against the wall. I shoved him against the wall again for emphasis. "Where is Demetri hiding?" I asked him.

"I'm not going to tell you," he replied.

"I figured a night at the club wasn't all that you were promised," I said. "But do you really think Demetri intends to keep his promise?"

Edward stepped up beside me. "He has my daughter," he implored of the worm, "I can pay you anything you ask. Just tell me where Demetri is keeping her."

The worm answered by spitting in Edward's face. In one fluid motion, I removed a retractable blade from my boot and sliced into the worm's wrist. He cried out in pain. "Tell me where Demetri is," I told him, "or your throat is next."

He looked at me with genuine fear in his eyes. I raised the knife to his neck. "The docks!" he yelped. "He's at an old warehouse by the docks."

"That's very good," I purred as I swiped the flat side of the blade across his cheek. He tried to pull away from it, but I held him still. "You did right by telling me," I said to him, "so I'll make this quick." I moved the knife back to his throat as his eyes widened with surprise.

"Stop!" Edward shouted at me. "He told us where Demetri is. Now let him go."

I stayed the blade long enough to glance sideways at Eddie-Do-Good. "Are you that thick?" I asked him loudly. "As soon as I let him go, he'll run to tell Demetri!"

"He won't if we make him promise," Edward answered, his voice becoming quiet. He turned to our prisoner. "What do you say?" Edward asked him. "Your life in exchange for a promise that you not tell Demetri what you told us?"

As expected, the worm nodded the affirmative eagerly. "Edward," I said, exasperated, "you can't take his word for it."

"I think we can trust him," he said.

I shook my head in disbelief. "I didn't think that I'd have to save you from yourself," I told Edward, and raised the blade with purpose to the human's throat.

Before I could stop him, Edward grabbed me and wrenched the knife out of my hand. The prisoner ran out of the alleyway and never looked back.

After Edward let me go, I stood there, incredulous, looking at him as he looked back at me. "I hope that was worth it to you!" I finally shouted at him. "Saving one poor excuse for a human in exchange for your daughter!" I ran my hand though my hair roughly in frustration. "There are hard decisions that have to made," I said more quietly. "But maybe, you're incapable of making them."

I turned and started to walk away. "You're wrong," Edward called after me. I stopped and looked back at him. "That decision I just made was a hard one," he said. "I just hope it was the right one."

I shook my head, got on my motorcycle and sped off into the night. Supposed righteousness didn't get you anywhere in this world. Sooner or later, Edward would have to learn that good boys never win.


	18. Chapter 5: Thriller

**Chapter Five: Thriller**

I kept riding. I couldn't care less if Edward decided to storm the warehouse on his own or hobnob it back to Richie's place. I had other things to do; I had another lead to follow. Henri's information on this other lead had told me right where I could find him. I rode until I had reached the "bad side" of town. I then parked my motorcycle in an alleyway and started out on foot.

I could tell that the night air was cold, but it didn't bother me. The houses were close together, and the streets that ran by them were littered and dirty. It was quiet except for the occasional dog barking or the words of a drunken argument being carried on the air.

I stopped when I saw a dark lump of something on the ground. I picked it up and saw that it was a jacket; a cheap sort of jacket, made of black vinyl and faux fur around the collar. I put it on. It was perfect to hide my designer halter top. I walked a little further before I heard footsteps behind me. I pretended not to notice and kept walking. The sound of his accelerated heart beat sending the blood coursing through his veins made me smile.

Finally, he came up behind me and stuck the point of a knife to my back. "Don't scream," he commanded in a shaky whisper. "Go into that alleyway and I won't hurt you." I did as he said and walked into a deserted alleyway off of the main road. He held me in what I'm sure he thought was a tight grip. When we reached a large dumpster, he stopped me. "Alright honey," he said, "here's good."

At this point, I finally spoke to him. "I'll give you three seconds to let me go to save your life," I said calmly. I heard him chuckle. He obviously didn't believe me. "One," I began counting. He led me behind the dumpster. "Two," I continued as he tried to force me to the ground. "Three," I said as I spun around, easily overpowering his grip. I held him in front of me with my hands around his neck. He looked at me in horror as he tried, desperately, to free himself from my super-human grasp.

"What…" he tried to talk as I squeezed his windpipe, "… is… happening…"

I brought his face closer to mine and he shook in seeing the beautiful and terrible creature that I was. "You're dying," I whispered harshly.

"You're a…" he managed to say, "… a monster."

I laughed aloud which made him tremble more, as his body was shaking violently. I looked straight into his eyes and said, "No. I'm no monster. You're the monster." I didn't make death easy for him. I didn't break his neck to make it quick. I fed from the vein in his neck so he could feel the pain, until I felt him go entirely limp in my hands. I dropped him and walked away without another thought. It would be another unsolved murder for the NYPD; though I hoped that they wouldn't spend much time on it, seeing as how he got what he deserved.

Fully refreshed, I went back out onto the street. I had only walked a short distance when I saw someone; two someone's actually. There were two men; one of them looked young, and was sitting on the ground, propped up against a building, unconscious. The other was bent over him, drinking blood from the unconscious boy's wrist. A vampire.

I approached them. The vampire stopped and looked up quickly when he heard me. His startled look turned into a grin. "Oh," he said. "For a minute there, I thought you were human, from you scent. He looked at me up and down, smiled bigger, and then gestured to the young man he was feeding on. "Would you care to join me?" he asked.

"No thanks," I replied coolly. "I don't like my blood tainted with drugs." He shrugged and lifted the arm back to his lips. "Hey," I said, and he stopped. "You should leave."

"Yeah right," he began.

"Scram!" I shouted, and he scurried off, leaving the boy. I looked at him and his punctured wrist. This is how the low-life's fed. They would find the humans that had passed out and feed on them. And most of the vampires weren't kind enough or smart enough to leave you with any blood after they were done.

I crouched down next to the still unconscious young man. I dug through his pockets and found his wallet. There was no cash in it; either another passerby had cleaned him out, or he had spent it on his last hit. I found his ID next; from the looks of him and his address, I guessed he was new to this pastime. Idiot—to throw a good life away. I replaced the wallet in his pocket.

I picked him up and carried him easily, though he was a few inches taller and a good deal heavier than I was. I brought him to the main road and hailed the lone taxi that passed. The driver looked at me strangely as I placed the unconscious boy in his back seat. I gave the driver the address on the boy's ID. Then I handed him a wad of my own money. "The extra is for taking him up to the door," I told him.

Once the driver had contained the grin on his face—no doubt brought on by my generosity—he regarded me warily. "Are you sure you don't want a ride too, Miss?" he asked. "This place really isn't the best kind of place for young ladies to be alone."

"No thank you," I said with finality. The driver gave me one last "you're crazy" look, shrugged, and sped off after I had shut the car door.


	19. Chapter 6: She Can Get It

**Chapter Six: She Can Get It**

I continued to walk through the dismal neighborhood. I was getting close—I could feel it. For some vampires, the preferred method of feeding was to grab prostitutes off streets like these. Henri's information had led me to this area. Now was the hour in which he would be hunting; I'd beat him at his own game.

I hugged the tacky jacket closer to me, as if I were cold. I masked my vampire scent and let the human side dominate. I created the scent of perspiration lingering around me and quickened my step; I would look and smell anxious, unsure and hurried. If you were going fishing, you had to bring the right kind of bait. I had done this countless times before for the Volturi, and I had no doubt that it would work just as well now.

And I was right. I continued to walk, seeming oblivious, as I heard the decaying car pull up behind me and keep pace. Not every vampire lived the high life.

He sped up a little to overtake me and then stopped. I stopped as well. Behind the fur of the coat, most of my face was hidden—I couldn't take the chance that he'd recognize me. The Volturi had worked hard to keep my anonymity for their own purposes, but I was almost certain that this vampire would know me.

He leaned out of his window and leered at me. "C'mon honey," he said. "Let me get you out of this place."

"I don't think you can afford me," I answered simply.

"Trust me. I'm sure I can," he said.

I said nothing more, but walked around the front of the car and got into the passenger seat. As I shut the creaking door, I let the jacket fall from around my face. As I had expected, the skeevy grin fell from his face, and his eyes widened with recognition. Before he could react, I grabbed him by the back of his neck with my left hand. I connected his head with the steering wheel hard, and then drew him back to look at me.

"Anastasia," he said. I said nothing in return. "To what do I owe this pleasure La Corona?" he asked me with nervous chuckle. I had heard that nickname before. Though I didn't know who started it, I did know that it came partly from my Spanish heritage, and partly from the popular belief that I was the crowning princess of the Volturi guard—their most prized and talented weapon. I knew differently, however; I was merely convenient for my father. Though, I did like the mystique that the rumors gave me.

"Don't try to run, and don't fight me," I told the vampire. "I only want information."

"I don't know where Demetri is," he said. I shot him a confused look, so he continued. "It's gotten around that you're helping the Cullens get their kid back—that you've gone AWOL."

I tightened my grip and bore my eyes into his. "Do you really think that I would go against the Volturi, just like that?" I asked him.

"But you're helping the Cullens," he said, confused.

I chuckled deep in my throat. "Demetri's plan wasn't working," I said, "so I decided to take matters in to my own hands." I smiled. "Plus, who do you think will be Aro's favorite after she leads the entire Cullen family into his hands, willingly." I laughed again.

"You are as ruthless as they say," he told me. Then he smiled, cautiously. "So what Volturi business would bring you to me?" he asked. "What information could I possibly have that would interest them?"

I shoved his head into the steering column again and then jerked him back to look at me. "Don't play dumb with me," I told him. "We know you were in favor with the Resistance." His eyes widened when I said this. "I want names."

The Resistance, I knew, was a rebel group of vampires that opposed the rule of the Volturi. In fact, the start of The Resistance dated back to King Clovis I of France. It was said that an angel presented him with the fleur de lis upon his conversion to Christianity. In reality, the angel was a vampire that "converted" him or changed him into one of our kind. It was then that the King adopted the symbol of the fleur de lis, as a symbol of rebirth, and placed it in the French coat of arms. Later, it became the unofficial symbol of the Resistance; perhaps Clovis had started the group against the Volturi. Some people thought that the French never got involved in anything; that was perhaps true of the humans, but certainly not of the vampires.

Supposedly, since then, the Resistance grew in influence as more sought the overthrowing of the Volturi. However, they had never openly come up against us—instead doing little things to frustrate the plans of the Volturi—so the identity of the members remained a mystery to us. The Volturi still couldn't take the chance that they would strike, so I had been assigned on missions previously to try and learn their identities. This was the first really good lead I had had in a long time.

"I want something else to lay at my father's feet when I get back to Volterra," I continued. "I know that you helped some members of the Resistance before. I know that they took you into their confidence. I want names."

"You think that you can just beat it out of me," he spat at me.

"Drop the 'I have morals' act," I said coolly. "You and I both know that you're not loyal to them. You helped them once upon a time because there was something in it for you. You're going to help me now because there's something in it for you."

"I don't want the Volturi's money," he said.

"Good, because I'm not offering it," I answered. "I know you would prefer to continue feeding off of hookers." I smiled. "What I am offering is something far better."

"And what would that be?" he asked.

I leaned in closer and he squirmed to try to free himself. "I know where Derek is," I whispered. His eyes went wide with a flame of hatred burning behind them. "I know Derek killed your mate years ago," I continued, "and I know you've been looking for him, without success, but I'm prepared to deliver him to you." I saw the new resolve take hold in his facial expression. "Names," I helped.

"Alarick Mansing," he told me.

I sent his head flying into the dash again. "You idiot!" I shouted at him. "Do you think I'm that stupid? We know about that low-ranking-nothing already!" I leaned in and whispered with venom, "Give me what I want or I will kill you where you sit."

"Vicente De Luca," he said.

I blinked and drew back from him as I heard the name. I hadn't been expecting that, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. I composed myself and spoke, "I'll give you a name and you tell me if they're Resistance." He, of course, was in no position to refuse. I looked at him and spoke the name, "Carlisle Cullen."

His eyes went wide with surprise, but nodded once to show the affirmative. That was all that I needed. I had the information that I had come for.


	20. Explanation of BOOK TWO Chapter Titles

**Explanation of Book Two Chapter Titles**

I decided to use song titles as the names for the chapters in Book Two because of Ana's love for all kinds of music. Whether she was studying at Columbia or somewhere else, she always majored in music. Each of the song titles used also say something about the theme of the chapter.

Below are the song titles and the artists that produced them.

Chapter 1: "Empire State of Mind" – Jay Z, feat. Alicia Keys

Chapter 2: "Money for Nothing" – Dire Straits

Chapter 3: "Carry on Wayward Son" – Kansas

Chapter 4: "Good Boys" – Blondie

Chapter 5: "Thriller" – Michael Jackson

Chapter 6: "She Can Get It" – Kevin Rudolf


End file.
